Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ., Volume 12, Issue 7 (July 2022) – 14 articles

To make possible the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mainstream settings, parental knowledge and attitudes towards the disorder play a key role between the home and the school setting. However, prior literature has not carried out an in-depth analysis of parents’ knowledge about ASD and their attitudes toward the inclusion of children with this diagnosis. This study examined the parental attitudes towards inclusion and knowledge about ASD. Participants were parents of children with ASD (n = 75), parents of children without ASD whose children had prior or current contact with peers with ASD (n = 44), and parents of children with no previous interactions with a peer with ASD (n = 51). The Attitudes of Regular Educators Towards Inclusion for Students with Autism Survey and the Autism Knowledge Questionnaire were filled out. Nonparametric statistical tests were used. Results showed that parents of children with ASD have better knowledge about this disorder and hold more favorable attitudes towards the inclusion of children with ASD than the other parents. These findings suggest that the benefits of inclusive schooling are limited to the school setting and do not appear to affect families of children without ASD. Full article

The level and need for immediate health care measures training for teachers are of growing concern for two main reasons: on the one hand, these contents are part of the school curriculum and, on the other hand, teachers are the first adults to intervene in case of school injury. However, in Spain, first aid (FA) does not appear as obligatory content in the university training of teachers. The aim of the present study was to design and validate a questionnaire on the attitude of pre-school and primary school teachers towards first aid knowledge adapted to the school context and to analyze its psychometric properties. First of all, the psychometric values of the questionnaire were tested: through its validation and reliability. Subsequently, a correlation study was carried out as well as a logistic regression in order to know the knowledge and attitudes of teachers and future teachers about the importance of the Immediate Attention Measures at school. The sample consisted of 392 participants: active teachers (71%) and future teachers (29%, the latter being final year students) of the infant and primary stages from the northern, central and southern areas of Spain. The results show adequate psychometric values, establishing three factors: attitude towards general knowledge in FA and learning methodology; attitude towards wounds and CPR algorithm (most frequent and/or serious events); self-perception of knowledge or skill in FA. Pearson’s correlation test identified significant values (p < 0.01) and positive association between Factors 1 and 2 (r = 0.422) and between 1 and 3 (0.244). The conclusions of the results of the validation process of the questionnaire on the attitude of teachers and future teachers to knowledge for immediate health care measures training are valid and reliable to an acceptable degree. Regression study demonstrates the importance of including first aid training in teachers’ degrees. Full article

Purpose: To examine the perception of students regarding an e-learning system adopted by various educational institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A web-based-survey was conducted among selected university students in Saudi Arabia. A total of 294 students were randomly chosen to determine the utilities and credibility of the adopted e-learning mode of education. The reliability of latent constructs was assessed according to Cronbach’s alpha, and confirmatory factors analysis was conducted via AMOS software (version 24) to measure the students’ perceptions of online learning. Results: The outcomes of the present study reveal that e-learning has been very useful throughout the pandemic period among selected Saudi Arabian universities. The students have a positive view of the online system of education, which has many benefits, including flexibility, low cost, self-learning, and convenience. Implications: The results of the present study will be beneficial for all educational institutions that are largely dependent on the findings of the online survey. Full article

School bullying is a serious public health concern in many countries worldwide. Over recent decades, several effective anti-bullying prevention programs have been developed. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted version of the “Equipping Youth to Help One Another (EQUIP) for Educators” (EfE) program in reducing adolescents’ engagement in school bullying perpetration by correcting their use of self-serving cognitive distortions (CDs). Furthermore, guided by the vantage sensitivity framework, we investigated whether the intervention effects varied depending on the adolescents’ gender and environmental sensitivity. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test with a control group design involved 354 Italian middle and high school adolescents (51.7% males; M_age = 14.86, SD = 2.54). Both the control (n = 187) and experimental group (n = 167) completed self-report questionnaires, before and after the intervention. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant moderated mediation effect: highly sensitive males participating in the EfE program decreased their engagement in bullying by reducing CDs, compared to females and those with low- and medium- sensitivity. These findings support the effectiveness of the EfE program in equipping youth to think and act more responsible and shed light on “why” and “for whom” the intervention might work better to counteract school bullying during adolescence. Full article

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is closely related to various adverse cardiovascular manifestations and increased cardiovascular risk. However, atrial fibrillation (AF) development and atrial conduction abnormalities have not been thoroughly studied in patients with PCOS. Methods: This meta-analysis (CRD42021261375) was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Our aim was to investigate associations between PCOS and disorders in atrial conduction parameters linked with an increased risk for AF occurrence. Results: Five cohort studies with aggregate data on 406 adult women (229 with PCOS and 177 age-matched without PCOS) were included in this analysis. Our results showed a significantly increased mean difference in P-wave maximum duration (+7.63 ± 7.07 msec; p < 0.01) and P-wave dispersion (+11.42 ± 5.22 msec; p = 0.03) of patients with PCOS compared to healthy women. The mean difference in P-wave minimum duration (−2.22 ± 2.68 msec; p = 0.11) did not reach the statistical threshold between the compared groups. Echocardiographic measurements of atrial electromechanical delay (AED) also indicated a statistically significant mean difference in favour of the PCOS group in all assessed parameters, except for atrial electromechanical coupling (PA) in the tricuspid annulus. Particularly, PCOS was associated with increased lateral PA, septal PA, inter- and intra-AED durations (mean difference: +17.31 ± 9.02 msec; p < 0.01, +11.63 ± 7.42 msec; p < 0.01, +15.31 ± 9.18 msec; p < 0.01, +9.31 ± 6.85 msec; p < 0.01, respectively). Conclusions: PCOS is strongly associated with alterations in several electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters indicating abnormal atrial conduction. Therefore, PCOS could be considered as a causal or triggering factor of AF. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results and investigate direct associations between PCOS and AF. Full article

The aim of this study was to examine sleep/wake behaviour and sleep strategies before, during and after ultra-marathon running events exceeding 100 miles (161 km). A total of 119 athletes completed a web-based questionnaire regarding their habitual sleep/wake behaviour before, during, and after ultra-marathon participation. Event-specific data were grouped by race distance categories; 100–149 miles (161–240 km), 150–199 miles (241–321 km), and ≥200 miles (322 km). Athletes commonly reported not sleeping throughout the duration of their races (74%). However, for events that were ≥200 miles, athletes reported more sleep opportunities, longer sleep duration, and more total sleep when compared to events that were 100–149 miles in distance (p ≤ 0.001). This suggests that for races of shorter distances, the benefit of continuous racing outweighs the negative impact of continuous wakefulness/sleep deprivation. However, for longer races (≥200 miles), there is an apparent tradeoff between sleep deprivation and race strategy, whereby athletes cannot sustain a desired level of performance without obtaining sleep. This is consistent with established sleep/wake behaviour models suggesting that sleep need increases as wakefulness increases, or in this case, as race duration increases. For athletes participating in ultra-marathons, sleep management education and/or consultation with a sleep scientist prior to racing may be beneficial. Future research should examine the optimal strategies concerning the frequency and duration of sleep during ultra-marathons and the subsequent impact on performance. Full article

Attitude toward smart working reflects feelings of favorableness towards this object; attitudes influence intentions, which in turn guide behaviors. Recent research confirms the positive influence that attitude toward smart working has on expected usage of it. Despite a direct influence, other factors could interact in the context of opportunities for ICT usage for teleworkers; among these factors, work engagement stands out. In turn, work engagement influences the perception of job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Considering that literature suggests that among the antecedents of work engagement are attitudes, the present study analyzes the role of positive attitude towards smart working on work engagement, and consequently on job satisfaction and on life satisfaction, hypothesizing that work engagement could mediate between positive attitude towards smart working and job and life satisfaction. The participants were 342 workers (115 males and 227 females) in private and public organizations, aged 24 to 66 years. The results showed that a positive attitude towards smart working, along with work engagement as a mediator, positively influences job satisfaction and life satisfaction. This means that employers and human resources managers (HRM) can organize training sessions to enhance the positive attitude toward smart working and this can help workers feel more engaged and satisfied. Full article

The study presents the validation of a scale measuring physicians’ efficacy beliefs about their ability to manage issues related to communication with patients. Specifically, the tool focused on three fundamental phases of the clinical interview: collecting information, returning information to patients, and creating and maintaining a relationship with them. The research included two studies. Study 1 generated an item pool based on the literature review and developed a self-report questionnaire administered to a pilot sample of 150 physicians (M_Age = 49.36; SD = 1.98). The responses were subjected to exploratory analysis. In total, 636 physicians (M_Age = 47.99; SD = 8.68) took part in Study 2. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses yielded a final version of the tool consisting of an eight-factor structure with 31 items. Findings provided evidence of the robust psychometric properties of the scale and its usefulness in assessing physicians’ self-efficacy and defining effective interventions aimed at strengthening the doctors’ communication skills. The scale detected different aspects of physicians’ communication self-efficacy (asking questions, active listening, giving information, communicating an inauspicious diagnosis, non-verbal communication, recognition of patient’s clues and suggestions, information checking, and empathy). Full article

Very little has been researched assessing the relationship between the suicide rate and the ecological perspectives of the country, especially in the Muslim majority countries. We aimed to determine the association between suicide rate and the ecological parameters of 46 Muslim majority countries. We extracted the Muslim majority countries and their suicide rate, income distribution, distribution of the WHO region and continents, and Human Development Index (HDI). We assessed the correlation of the proportion of Muslim populations, the total population of the countries, number of suicides, continent, income group, political system, and HDI score with the suicide rate. The median suicide rate was 5.45 (IQR = 4.8); 2.9 (IQR = 4) in females and 7.45 (IQR = 8.2) in males per 100,000 population. The males had a significantly higher rate and the highest suicide rate was found in Africa. There are inverse associations between the total suicide rate, the rate in males, and females with HDI, and the income of the country. Furthermore, the suicide rate was significantly higher in countries with democratic systems compared to non-democratic countries. The findings suggest that ecological parameters may have an etiological role on suicides in Muslim countries where HDI and income are inversely associated with suicide rates. Full article

In educational large-scale assessment (LSA) studies such as PISA, item response theory (IRT) scaling models summarize students’ performance on cognitive test items across countries. This article investigates the impact of different factors in model specifications for the PISA 2018 mathematics study. The diverse options of the model specification also firm under the labels multiverse analysis or specification curve analysis in the social sciences. In this article, we investigate the following five factors of model specification in the PISA scaling model for obtaining the two country distribution parameters; country means and country standard deviations: (1) the choice of the functional form of the IRT model, (2) the treatment of differential item functioning at the country level, (3) the treatment of missing item responses, (4) the impact of item selection in the PISA test, and (5) the impact of test position effects. In our multiverse analysis, it turned out that model uncertainty had almost the same impact on variability in the country means as sampling errors due to the sampling of students. Model uncertainty had an even larger impact than standard errors for country standard deviations. Overall, each of the five specification factors in the multiverse analysis had at least a moderate effect on either country means or standard deviations. In the discussion section, we critically evaluate the current practice of model specification decisions in LSA studies. It is argued that we would either prefer reporting the variability in model uncertainty or choosing a particular model specification that might provide the strategy that is most valid. It is emphasized that model fit should not play a role in selecting a scaling strategy for LSA applications. Full article

The concept of nomophobia is a relatively new and is defined as the fear of not being able to use all the features and benefits provided by smartphones. The main goal of this research was to examine the relationship between nomophobia and various emotional difficulties and distress factors. The following measuring instruments were used on a sample of 257 Croatian students whose average age was 22 years: Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q); Scales of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DASS); Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA); and Emotional Skills and Competences Questionnaire (ESCQ-15). Significant correlations between nomophobia and all examined variables were determined. It was found that nomophobia and emotional skills and competence act as significant predictors in expression of distress factors: 30% of the variance in the severity of depression symptoms, 24% of the variance in the severity of anxiety symptoms, and 26% of the variance in the severity of stress symptoms were explained. Full article

According to the Theory of Basic Human Values, values are relatively stable, but not immutable, abstract goals which strongly influence peoples’ lives. Since their relative stability, psychosocial research is attempting to understand the extent to which it is possible to induce a voluntary change in people’s personal values. The main aim of this study was to systematically review the existing literature on experiments to induce a value change, also highlighting the theoretical perspectives used to develop the experimental tasks. We conducted a literature search of five databases (SCOPUS, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science). After the screening and the eligibility phase, we included a total of 14 articles (25 experiments). Most of these studies involved university students and adopted a pre-and post-test design, using different manipulation tasks. The results highlighted the possibility of inducing a voluntary value change, assessed in terms of mean levels and/or rank order. These findings provide new insights regarding the stability of values in the light of the Theory of Basic Human Values. The practical implications and future research directions are discussed. Full article

Occupational stress, as a negative facet, is a pervasive problem with significant implications for organizations, employees, welfare systems and health. The implementation of measurement tools that can capture the different organizational dimensions that determine stress in workers is part of the stress management and troubleshooting strategy that every company must manage daily. The aim of the present study was to adapt and validate the 25-item version of the ILO-WHO stress scale by Ivancevich and Matteson in the context of the Canary Islands of Spain. The tool assesses specific organizational dimensions of work-related stress determinants: organizational climate and structure, leader influence, cohesion, territory, technology and group support. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on a sample of 1510 Canary Islands workers was carried out. The results indicate that the job stress scale revealed adequate psychometric properties, construct validity and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.972), and it can be profitably used to measure stress. At the end of the paper, theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Full article

This study examines the indirect effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction among teachers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. A sample of 322 teachers aged 23–71 (M = 45.37, SD = 8.99) participated in a cross-sectional online survey. The online survey (Google form) contained some demographic information and standardized psychological questionnaires: the Multivariate Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) for measuring emotional intelligence, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)—a short form for job satisfaction assessment, and the Life Satisfaction Scale (SWLS). Emotional intelligence is a significant positive predictor of job satisfaction and life satisfaction, and job satisfaction is a strong positive predictor of life satisfaction. Job satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. To maintain the well-being of teachers during a pandemic, schools should implement training to improve emotional intelligence and increase job satisfaction by supporting distance e-learning among teachers. Full article