Time Difficulty Research Articles

Playing Through Tough Times: Exploring the Relationship between Game Aspects and Coping Strategies during Difficult Life Challenges

The potential benefits of playing video games during times of difficulty have been increasingly recognised by researchers yet little is known about how particular aspects of games may relate to different forms of coping. An exploratory survey of 130 participants and content analysis identified 31 game aspects, across 6 categories, that were beneficial or detrimental to players. Our findings illustrate that games can support a range of coping strategies, including emotion-focused, avoidance, and meaning-focused coping. We also identify how specific aspects of games relate to different coping strategies during times of personal difficulty. For instance, emotion-focused coping was most commonly linked to challenge game aspects, where overcoming difficulties allowed players to experience positive emotions such as competence. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into how games may be able to facilitate a range of coping strategies during tough times.

Kusaal Folktales: Communicative Tools for Preserving Indigenous Cultural Values in Ghanaian Marriages

Among the Kusaas of Ghana, folktales convey messages that touch on every aspect of the socio-cultural and socio-economic lives of the people. This study discusses the use of folktales to communicate didactic messages on marriage and peaceful social cohesion. The study argues that the folktales of the Kusaas are used to communicate clear societal norms that are meant to guide people on how to choose spouses and how to relate to one another as couples in times of difficulty. They also present culturally defined roles of men and women in marriage and the influence of parents, chiefs, and other opinion-leaders in decision-making relating to marriage. Lessons drawn from the folktales are meant to enhance peaceful co-existence between couples and among other community members. These serve as indigenous ways of curbing unacceptable behaviours that can cause serious misunderstanding.

The Correlation Between Students’ Writing Self-Efficacy and Essay Writing Performance

Self-efficacy in writing is an important factor for a student-writer to accomplish a writing task. However, not all studies show that writing self-efficacy and writing achievement are positively related. The purpose of the study is to find out 1) the writing self-efficacy level of the second-year students of an English education study program in one of the private universities in Pasuruan Regency, East Java, Indonesia, and 2) the correlation between students’ writing self-efficacy and their writing performance. The research uses a correlational design. The sample of the research was fifty students of English study program from one of private universities in Pasuruan regency, Easyt Java, Indonesia. The instrument used to collect the data was the writing self-efficacy questionnaire developed by Prickel in 1994, test, Primary Trait Scoring (PTSG) rubric, and documentation of the student's essay. The questionnaire consists of 25 items about self-efficacy in writing with a five-point scale of answers. The result shows that the students’ self-efficacy level mainly falls in the moderate category (58%), while the rest fall in the high category (42%). The result of the correlation analysis shows that there is no correlation between the students’ writing self-efficacy and their writing achievement (r= -.020, n = 50, p = .892). The result implies that writing teachers should continuously foster their students' writing self-efficacy by giving them sufficient practice opportunities, offering constructive feedback, as well as providing emotional and psychological support in time of difficulties.

Perception of self and it's effect on anxiety and depression among adolescent girls.

Perception of self is a primary source for fostering negative influences in an adolescent's life. This stage may increase the risk for various psychiatric disorders. To assess the grade of anxiety and depression and to study their relationship with various factors of perception of self, among adolescent girls. School-going adolescent girls from two government schools at Lucknow were selected using a two-stage random sampling technique. A total of 200 participants were personally interviewed for their socio-demographic details, perception of self, and screened for symptoms of anxiety and depression. Of the 200 school-going adolescent girls who participated in the study, 63.5% screened positive for the symptoms of anxiety and 73.0% for symptoms of depression. A total of 11.5% and 3.5% school-going adolescent girls had severe anxiety and major depression; severe severity, respectively. Both anxiety and depression among school-going adolescent girls were significantly associated with factors like possessing qualities that they are ashamed of (P = 0.005 and 0.011), body image dissatisfaction (P = 0.004 and 0.017), and getting suicidal thoughts in times of difficulties (P < 0.001). A fair number of adolescent girls had severe anxiety and major depression of severe severity. Therefore, adolescents must be screened for mental disorders from time to time and those at high risk must be identified.

Picturing oneself over time: a multi-modal interpretative phenomenological analysis of pain management trajectories.

Chronic pain (CP) can be a disabling condition with impacts that affect the sense of identity of those who live with it. This article idiographically describes the longitudinal evolution of the sense of self of participants following their referral to a pain management service and participation in a pain management programme (PMP). Participants were interviewed three times: before they attended a PMP, and 1 and 6 months after the PMP. Data included the drawings of themselves that participants created at each interview and the transcripts of the interviews guided by the drawings, analysed longitudinally using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This paper describes in detail the cases of four participants: two who experienced a positive albeit troubled trajectory following their PMP and two who did not experience any positive change. The results provide a nuanced account of how the impacts of CP on identity can evolve, with different people engaging with different aspects of a PMP and some people not engaging at all, and how pain self-management strategies enable those that do engage to cope in times of difficulty. Participant responses to PMP participation are idiosyncratic and interviews with drawings of self analysed longitudinally can help illustrate processes of change. Not enough is understood about why some people get limited benefits from pain services. This idiographic longitudinal study illustrates how the impact of CP on identity can evolve when people are introduced to pain self-management, with some embracing change and others resisting it. For clinicians, this study describes four detailed CP individual paths, showing the interaction between contextual and idiosyncratic aspects. This is also the first study to use multiple drawings of self to explore the impacts of illness on identity longitudinally. In a person-centred approach to treatment, the drawings of self could also be adopted as a tool in clinician-patient conversations to gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of living with CP.

Inspired in Adversity: How Inspiration Mediates the Effects of Emotions on Coping Strategies.

Inspiration is a psychological construct that has been relatively understudied in times of difficulty. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of inspiration on the relationship between emotions and coping strategies in the context of adversity and to testify the effect in Chinese as well as the International societies. Using the snowball sampling method, two survey studies were conducted among 523 Chinese and 503 international participants during and soon after the local Covid-19 outbreak to testify how positive and negative emotions contributed to various coping strategies and whether the experience of inspiration mediated these relations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Positive emotions had a higher impact on problem-solving and seeking social support coping strategies, whereas negative emotions had a higher impact on avoidance coping strategy. Both positive and negative emotions had positive relationships with inspiration, but positive emotions had a higher impact than negative ones. The indirect effects of emotions on problem-solving and social support coping strategies through inspiration were significantly positive, while the avoidance coping strategy was not influenced by the experience of inspiration. The results suggest that being inspired in both positive and negative emotions is positively related to approach coping strategies in adverse situations such as COVID-19, with the effect patterns slightly differing between Chinese participants and their Western counterparts. This study highlights the importance of inspiration experience as a motivational state that can help individuals bring newly acquired ideas into fruition, especially during times of difficulty. By understanding the role of inspiration in the context of adversity, public health systems can better assist individuals in different societies to cope with the challenges they face.

The Role Of Self-Compassion In Psychological Conditions: Narrative Literature Review In Indonesian Research Participants

Self-compassion is a person's way of loving themselves and accepting themselves. Self-compassion is also a concept of kindness to oneself, especially in times of difficulty or failure. This research method uses a qualitative approach, namely a narrative literature review. There are ten references indexed in the Google Scholar database with a publication range from 2018 to 2023. The references used are research using Indonesian participants. The focus of the discussion is related to self-compassion. This research shows that the role of self-compassion in daily life influences many psychological aspects of various individual characteristics. Several variables are often associated with self-compassion, namely depression, loneliness, well-being, stress, social support, and self-regulation. It is hoped that further research can examine more deeply and broadly the role of self-compassion in various individual characteristics.

Slavery Represented in Bactrian Documents

ABSTRACT This article addresses the idea and practice of slavery reflected in Bactrian documents. Bactrian documents are found in various parts of modern-day northern Afghanistan, a region broadly corresponding to late antique Bactria. The article discusses the definition of slavery and the slave's social status reflected in these documents. It shows that slavery was a practice that was authorized within the Bactrian legal system, where two types of slavery were recognized. The first type was that of the slave who was born in the owner's possession (χοβο νιζαδαγο μαρηγο), while the second was that of the slave who was purchased for money (δδραχμο χιρσιγο). In both cases, the slaves were regarded as personal property, with their owners having total authority over them. The Bactrian legal system allowed a slave to purchase his freedom by paying his full price and also permitted families to sell their children into slavery in times of difficulty. The legal documents were produced in the court of law, where some officials witnessed and sealed them, providing evidence that slavery was widely practised in late antique Bactria.

The Talk to Granny initiative: societies world-wide seek whole society approaches to mental health

There are nearly one billion people worldwide who suffer from some form of mental disorder. Of concern is that one in seven teenagers has a mental health issue and that pandemics such as COVID-19 precipitate mental health issues, while at the same time exacerbating pre-existing mental health conditions. The importance of mental health is increasingly being acknowledged. The inclusion of mental health in sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) is a case in point. One multi-country study revealed mental health as having taken the second spot as a health concern in most countries. Of utmost concern are findings that these waves of mental health issues we are currently seeing are not solely attributed to the pandemic. The rise in mental health issues has been associated with a rising trend of structural issues at the workplace for some time. At the same time, the health care workers, who are the supposed carers, are themselves burnt out, overworked and fighting the same battles of juggling parenthood, work pressures, insecurities and toxic work environments. In short, they too have not been spared from mental health issues. In our view, finding innovative means to address the mental health issue is an urgent task. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposes a multi-sectoral integrated approach to mental health, going beyond mental health specialists, to include multiple actors and sectors from schools, teachers, line managers and community actors. As societies in Europe seek whole society approaches to mental health, we propose the “Talk to Granny” initiative. This proposal involves encouraging individuals to have conversations with their grandmothers, a free, tried and tested mutually beneficial resource generations have turned to in times of difficulties in most cultures

Determinants of Job Satisfaction Among Work-From-Home Malaysians During Pandemic: Application of Job Demands-Resources Model

Work From Home (WFH) or telework is gaining its popularity all over the world, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has forced the organizations to embark on vitrual work environment even though many were not prepared for such changes. This study examined the determinants of job satisfaction among the new home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia by applying the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model. The data were collected from 370 respondents across various industries through online questionnaire survey. Out of the 370 respondents, 30.5% of the respondents specializing in education/training, 24.6% are in accounting/banking/finance, 15.9% are in computer/IT and \the remaining 29% are from other fields such as administration/HR, marketing/sales, manufacturing, engineering, art/media/communication, sciences, services and others. The findings based on the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis suggests that social isolation, suitability of home workspace, organizational supports, job autonomy and perceived self competency have significant influences on employees’ job satisfaction while working from home. This study offers valuable insights to organizations regarding sustainable human resource management strategies during the pandemic. It suggests that various forms of organizational support should be extended to employees during times of difficulties and uncertainties.

Small Business Success During 2020/2021

Change management, learning, agility, innovation, adaptability, and growth strategy are crucial elements for a business to stay open, serve its customers’ needs, and create cash flow to stay profitable during a time of crisis. One key aspect that affects how a business uses these elements to further its lifespan is the role of leadership. Some research has examined the areas of leadership and crisis. However, there appears to be a gap in research regarding the role of leadership in small businesses (Madanchian &amp; Taherdoost, 2019; van Winkle et al., 2014). This paper aims to determine if there was a correlation between the servant leadership style and small business survival during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020/2021. This study used a quantitative research method to survey employees who work in small businesses in Germany. The study is highly relevant because small businesses are the backbone of many economies (World Bank, 2022), and other turbulences may be expected in the future. The results provide insights into the connection between servant leadership and sustainable business success during times of difficulty. In addition, the results may enable leaders in the future to navigate their businesses toward increased business sustainability, providing larger benefits for society. Lastly, the study discusses future opportunities for research in this area.

Entrepreneurial Resilience: What Makes Entrepreneur Start Another Business After Failure

An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or business, taking on financial risks in the hope of making a profit. This risk may sometimes turn into failure. But those entrepreneurs who are resilient are keen to survive. The word resilience refers to overcoming difficulties and performing better than expected. The purpose of analysing "Entrepreneur's Resilience" is to understand entrepreneurs' desires and motivation to bounce back successfully and to recognize how they rebuild their business enterprise after failure. Resilience theory originated from pressure adjustment in psychotherapy. This theory explains how an individual deals with times of difficulty and how these crises may enhance their ability. It focuses on the struggle and courage an individual shows in times of difficulty. Entrepreneurship research has begun to explore each of these conceptualizations of resilience. Importantly, resilience capabilities have been connected with a greater likelihood of venture survival. Additionally, research has demonstrated that entrepreneurial action may be an important tool individuals use to overcome persistent adversity.

Managing crisis in the cruise industry: using internal communications to foster workforce resilience

Purpose This paper aims to investigates the use of internal communications to foster workforce resilience in the cruise industry during a crisis. Drawing on the regulatory focus theory, this study explores how internal communication strategies can build employee resilience particularly at a time of difficulty. The regulatory focus theory explores the employee’s rationale for goal pursuit. Prevention-focused individuals are concerned with safety and responsibility while promotion-focused individuals focus on goal advancement. The authors seek to broaden the existing understanding of the application of the regulatory focus theory as a lens to inform internal communications crisis strategies. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research using 15-semi structured interviews with cruise industry experts was undertaken during the pandemic. Applying a sensemaking and sense giving approach the researchers thematically analyzed the data in three stages, allowing for new theoretical insights to be uncovered. Findings The findings suggest that internal communication strategies should include prevention-focused messages emphasizing the cruise companies’ responsibility to employees, and promotion-focused communications, to include social interaction and individual growth opportunities. Originality/value This study’s contribution is three-fold. First, the authors extend the theoretical application of the regulatory focus theory to internal communication and identify a novel concurrent application of both prevention- and promotion-focused messages for developing a resilient workforce. Second, the authors introduce a preliminary conceptualization of an internal crisis communication strategy, emphasizing the concurrent application of prevention- and promotion-focused messages. Finally, the author offer practical suggestions for managing crisis communication strategies.

Engaging Faith-Based Organizations for Promoting the Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine in India: A Case Study of a Multi-Faith Society.

Mass vaccination, currently the most promising solution to contain communicable diseases, including COVID-19 requires collaboration between a variety of partners to improve the supply and demand and alleviate vaccine inequity. Vaccine hesitancy features in WHO's list of top 10 threats to global health, and there is plethora of disinformation instigating conflict between COVID-19 vaccination drive and religious sentiments. Negotiating public health partnerships with FBOs (Faith Based Organizations) has always been challenging. A handful of faith leaders have always shown resistance to ideas such as child immunization, and family planning. Many others have been supportive on other fronts like helping people with food, shelter, and medical aid in the times of public health crisis. Religion is an important part of life for the majority of the Indian population. People confide in faith-based leaders in the times of difficulty. This article presents experiences from the strategic engagement with FBOs (entities dedicated to specific religious identities, often including a social or moral component) to promote uptake of COVID-19 vaccination, especially among the vulnerable and marginalized communities. The project team collaborated with 18 FBOs and more than 400 religious institutions to promote COVID-19 vaccination and build confidence for the vaccination program. As a result, a sustainable network of sensitized FBOs from diverse faiths was created. The FBOs mobilized and facilitated vaccination of 0.41 million beneficiaries under the project.

Collaborative care in eating disorders treatment: exploring the role of clinician distress, self-compassion, and compassion for others

BackgroundCollaborative care is described as showing curiosity and concern for patient experiences, providing choices, and supporting patient autonomy. In contrast, in directive care, the clinician has authority and the patient is expected to adhere to a treatment plan over which they have limited influence. In the treatment of eating disorders, collaborative care has been shown to be more acceptable and produce better outcomes than directive care. Despite widespread patient and clinician preference for collaborative care, it is common for clinicians to be directive in practice, resulting in negative patient attitudes toward treatment and poor adherence. There is a need to understand factors which contribute to its use.PurposeThis study examined the contribution of clinicians' experience of distress and how they relate to themselves and others in times of difficulty (self-compassion and compassion for others), to their use of collaborative support.MethodClinicians working with individuals with eating disorders from diverse professional backgrounds (N = 123) completed an online survey.ResultsWhereas clinician distress was not associated with use of collaborative or directive support behaviours, self-compassion and compassion for others were. Regression analyses indicated that compassion for others was the most important determinant of collaborative care.DiscussionRelating to their own and others’ distress with compassion was most important in determining clinicians’ use of collaborative support. Understanding how to cultivate conditions that foster compassion in clinical environments could promote the delivery of collaborative care.

A listening and psychological support line for people with MS

The French Multiple Sclerosis Association offers a psychological helpline for people with this disease, their families, friends and caregivers. Two clinical psychologists answer this toll-free number, which is accessible seven days a week at set times. They offer callers active listening and adapted support, particularly after the announcement of the medical diagnosis and/or in times of difficulty. The space thus created for discussion allows them to address emotional or personal aspects, material situations, as well as questions and problems associated with the experience of the disease.

The Critical Role of Social Capital in Hotel Business Resilience

The COVID-19 outbreak provides the tourism industry incalculable lessons. Many businesses are concentrating on resilience, but few have explored the potential benefits of social capital. This article explains how utilising social capital might help business hotels boost their resilience during times of crisis. Social capital is inextricably linked to social networks, group collaboration, and trust among internal and external stakeholders. The research conducts in March to August 2021. The data was assessed qualitatively through interviews with four informants from the hospitality industry (Hotel Managers) and hotel associations. According to the research, social capital manifests itself in a variety of ways to assist hotels in times of difficulty. Internally, fighting a pandemic requires a willingness to compromise, with the hotel's leadership and creativity playing a critical role. Externally, the government's and associations' roles have a significant impact on hotel resiliency. Collaboration with associations and other external parties has been demonstrated to assist hotels during times of crises. Social capital cannot be created instantly but must be nurtured from the beginning of the hotel's operations. In turn, the social capital that has been established will ensure the hotel's long-term sustainability facing challenges. Keywords: social capital, hotel resilience, COVID-19, tourism industry, business sustainability

INTERLANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OF TURKISH SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH: EXPLORING ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

Language learners employ communication strategies (CSs) to avoid communication breakdowns in times of difficulty, and such strategies develop within strategic competence thanks to exposure to a target language. This research is designed as a developmental study aiming to investigate the possible effects of exposure to English as a foreign language on the use of CSs in the interlanguage of Turkish speakers of English. To attain this aim, we chose 20 Turkish learners of English from the beginner level, and they designated the topics they would speak and write about. Their oral and written performances on the topics were tested at the beginning prior to instruction, in the middle, and at the end of the academic year to observe whether CS usage altered over time. The findings revealed that participants resorted to different types of CSs in their speaking and writing tasks. The comparison of CS employment in each test showed that learners’ CS preferences, as well as L1 and L2-based CSs, changed over time in both speaking and writing. Therefore, it is concluded that exposure to the target language may have a significant effect on the preference of CSs. The results of this study are significant as they suggested that CSs in interlanguage evolves from L1-based to L2-based strategies. The findings of this study have important implications for teaching English as a foreign language in reference to the effects of language exposure on the use of CSs in both oral and written performances of L2 learners.

KISS- Keep it Simple Yet Safe: A Dependable Option in Anticipated Difficult Airways

Difficult airway guidelines provide an algorithmic approach as suggested by many international societies and journals. These guidelines have always been made with an earnest conviction at securing an airway with utmost safety and they provide a framework in times of difficulty. These guidelines are likely to add complexity with technological advances and gadgets available at hand like video laryngoscopes, fibreoptic bronchoscope etc., that may confuse the anaesthesiologist and hinder the decision making process. KISS- Keep it Simple, Stupid!– A concept well known, was first used in aviation which advices the pilot to keep things simple. We applied the same principle to our airway management protocol by modifying it into ‘Keep it simple yet safe’. The current case series describes 10 subjects which seemed to have a difficult access to airway and intubation. These patients were difficult to ventilate or difficult to intubate. Cases were successfully managed by applying this KISS technique. Due care was taken to keep our difficult airway cart ready as an alternative option.

Reviewing my career as a hematologist-oncologist and a quality control specialist in clinical trials

After a long-term hospitalization following a ski accident in college, I decided to choose a specialty in hematology and oncology. In graduate school, after learning the basics of biostatistics and the methodology of clinical trials, I had the opportunity to go through a series of clinical trial tasks, from launching to writing a clinical study report, which led to the study drug approval. This has greatly motivated me to be actively involved in this field. At the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, I studied outcomes research under a supervisor, and at a time of difficulty, my good role model, Dr. Stephanie Lee, had urged me, saying, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger." Subsequently, I devoted myself to the establishment of a data center for a Japanese pediatric leukemia/lymphoma study group, currently a subcommittee of the Japan Children's Cancer Group, and to develop an academic research organization for conducting ICH-GCP-compliant international clinical trials, including the originally developed EDC system. I was struggling in balancing work and parenting. Fortunately, I was supported by my encounters with respectable people.