Serbian Translation and Validation of SF-36 for Assessment of Quality of Life in Patients with Diagnosed Arterial Hypertension

Precise estimation of life quality is of special importance in patients with chronic diseases, such as arterial hypertension. There are many questionnaires for that purpose. SF 36 with 8 domains has been proved as one of the most appropriate. To date, there was no translated and validated SF 36 in the Serbian language for hypertensive patients. The aim of this study was to test validity and reliability of the SF-36 in Serbian patients with diagnosed arterial hypertension. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency of the Serbian version of the SF-36. After deducting the overlap between each of the 36 items and its related domain, the collective validity was considered to be good if the correlation coefficient remains > 0.4. Only 2.54% answers to the questions were missing. The values of all 8 domains were higher in men than in women. Cronbach alpha coefficient was high for the SF-36, 0.897, and it suggests that the SF-36 had good internal reliability. All 8 domains showed high values of non-rotating factorial weights (>0.300) (range from 0.742-0.856), and all measure the same thing. It means that all components in this questionnaire measure the things they are assigned to.

Food insecurity, macronutrient intake and patterns of eating in a sample of UK adults

How do the dietary intake patterns of people exposed to food insecurity differ from those of people who are food secure? A recent study of a US sample found that food insecurity was associated with greater reliance on carbohydrate, a lower diversity of food, and more variable time gaps between eating. We examined whether these features were also present in a sample of UK adults. From a low-income population, we recruited matched groups of participants who were classified as food insecure (n = 196) or food secure (n = 198) according to a standard questionnaire measure. We collected up to five twenty-four-hour dietary recalls from each participant. Results were strikingly like those from the US study. Food insecure respondents consumed relatively more carbohydrate and less protein; had fewer distinct foods per meal; and had more variable time gaps between meals. Food insecure participants did not have significantly higher body mass indices in this study. Food insecurity as measured by questionnaire appears to relate to a repeatable set of changes to dietary intake across populations.

Measuring Stress Experienced by University Students

Background: University students often report feeling intense stress, high anxiety, depressive feelings, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. This study presents a new questionnaire measure of student stress consisting of 30 items to investigate the symptoms of stress and potentially protective factors. Method: A total of 100 Canadian university students (mean age 20.2 years, SD=2.5, 33 males, 67 females) participated in an internet survey. They all completed our 30 item questionnaire dealing with the perceived stress of studying and exams, and with symptoms such as nightmares, depression, feelings of “being better off dead,” low self-esteem, and with potentially protective factors such as the extent of positive attitude to professors and pride in or contentment with the social status as a university student. Results: High proportions of students reported feeling, at least at times, better off dead (52%). About a half of them felt that most professors do not seem to like them (56%) and many reported nightmares about exams (53%). Lower perceived levels of student stress were associated with more positive feelings towards the professors (r=-.37) and with more pride in being a university student and the contentment with the related social status (r=-.25). The Cronbach alpha coefficient of internal consistency of our questionnaire was .87, i.e., satisfactory. Discussion: The high prevalence of nightmares about exams, feeling of “being better off dead,” or of not being liked by the professors is worrisome. Positive relations towards the professors or pride in or contentment about being a university student function as statistically significant but only weak and hence insufficient protective factors. Conclusions: More than 50% of students reported nightmares about exams, feeling of “being better off dead,” or of not being liked by the professors. Further research is needed to evaluate correlates of student stress to other protective factors than those explored in the present study.

The Development of Civic-Mindedness in College Students

В статье рассмотрена актуальная проблема формирования гражданской позиции у обучающихся гетерогенных групп в колледже. Представлены результаты опытно-экспериментальной работы по формированию гражданской позиции обучающихся гетерогенных групп в колледже. Сформулированы цель и гипотеза; описаны критерии и показатели сформированности гражданской позиции обучающихся в возрасте 15–19 лет (когнитивный, мотивационно-ценностный и деятельностный); организация и этапы экспериментальной работы. Методики диагностики гражданской позиции (бланковый тест М. Рокича «Ценностные ориентации», опросник А. Мехрабиена, Н. Эпштейна «Способность к эмпатии», анкета Е. Н. Титовой, Т. А. Мирошиной) позволили выявить доминирующие ценностные ориентации, уровень эмпатии обучающихся колледжа и степень осознания ими сущности гражданской позиции. Описана теоретическая модель формирования гражданской позиции у обучающихся гетерогенных групп колледжа, на основе которой создана авторская программа «Моя страна», стимулирующая развитие этой позиции. Дана краткая характеристика программы, предполагающей взаимодействие педагогов с разновозрастной группой первокурсников 15–19 лет с учетом индивидуально-личностных особенностей обучающихся и социальных условий их воспитания, в частности социального благополучия/неблагополучия семей. Описаны результаты проверки авторской программы, экспериментально подтверждающие ее эффективность. The article treats an urgent issue associated with the development of civic-mindedness in college students in heterogeneous classrooms. The article accounts for the aim and the hypothesis of the research, describes the criteria that can be used to assess the levels of civic-mindedness development in 15-19-year olds (cognitive, motivational, value-based, and activity-based), focuses on the organization and stages of experimental work. The methods of assessing civic-mindedness (the Rokeach Value Survey, the Mehrabian Questionnaire, the Epstein Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy, the Titova and Miroshina Questionnaire) enable the author to single out dominant value orientations, the level of emotional empathy in college students, the level of their civic-mindedness. The author of the article describes a theoretical model of civic-mindedness development in college students in heterogeneous classrooms and presents her own course “My Country” aimed at the development of civic-mindedness in students. The article describes the My Country course, which presupposes teachers’ interaction with 15-19-year old first-year students. It is expected that teachers should take into account their students’ individual characteristics and personality traits, their social backgrounds, the level of their family wellbeing. The article describes the results of the course elaborated by the author, and provides experimental evidence that the course is efficient.

Assessing whether child and parent reports of the KINDL questionnaire measure the same constructs of quality of life in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background Discrepancy between child self-report and parent proxy-report has long been documented in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measurement of children with chronic health conditions. This study aims to assess whether child and parent reports of the Kinder Lebensqualität fragebogen (KINDL) questionnaire measure the same construct of HRQoL in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Methods Participants were 122 Iranian children with ADHD and 127 of their parents, who completed the child and parent reports of the KINDL, respectively. Internal consistency of the child and parent reports were assessed by Cronbach's alpha. The intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficient and factor analysis were applied to assess whether the child self-report and the parent proxy-report measured the same construct of HRQoL. Additionally, convergent and discriminant validity were assessed using the Spearman correlation. Results The results of factor analysis revealed that the child self-report and parent proxy-report measure two different aspects of HRQoL. Moreover, both versions of the KINDL instrument showed excellent convergent and discriminant validity. The internal consistency was close to or greater than 0.7 for all domains of both child and parent reports. Conclusions Although the child self-report and the parent proxy-report of the Persian version of the KINDL have good psychometric properties, they are not interchangeable. This finding indicates that Iranian children with ADHD and their parents evaluate children's HRQoL from their own viewpoints.

Dissociations between interoceptive accuracy and attention: evidence from the interoceptive attention scale

Previous evidence suggests a dissociation between self-reported interoceptive accuracy and self-reported interoceptive attention. However, it remains unclear whether such dissociations are driven by differences in the interoceptive signals rated across these questionnaires, or a genuine dissociation between different facets of interoception (accuracy and attention). Across three studies, we examined the relationship between existing measures of self-reported interoceptive accuracy and self-reported interoceptive attention by developing a novel measure of self-reported interoceptive attention – the Interoceptive Attention Scale (IATS) – designed to match the interoceptive sensations included in an existing questionnaire measure of interoceptive accuracy. In addition, we examined whether the interpretation of questionnaire measures of interoception altered associations across measures. Results support the proposed distinction between self-reported interoceptive attention and self-reported interoceptive accuracy and highlight the importance of considering the interpretation of questionnaire measures of interoception.

Teacher Care and Students’ Sense of Connectedness in the Urban Mathematics Classroom

This multimethod study draws on theories of teacher care, dispositions, and culturally relevant pedagogy to examine how 12 urban mathematics teachers’ perceptions of their own care practices align with their Black and Latinx students’ (n = 321) sense of connectedness in the mathematics classroom. A qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with the teachers established three typologies of care: empathetic, transactional, and blended. A questionnaire measure of mathematics classroom connectedness revealed that students in classrooms led by teachers who enacted an empathetic caring pedagogy were more likely to agree that their teachers provided emotional support, their classroom felt like a family, and their contributions were valued in class. Furthermore, students’ sense of classroom connectedness mediated the link between teacher care and the students’ perceived value and relevance of mathematics.

Exposure to COVID-19 Pandemic Stress: Associations with Depression and Anxiety in Emerging Adults in the U.S.

Background: Stressful events due to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to have profound effects on mental health, and validated methods for assessing these experiences and associations with psychopathology are needed. We developed the Pandemic Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and tested its psychometric properties, characterized experiences in emerging adults, and examined associations with internalizing symptoms. Methods: Emerging adults (N=450) completed the PSQ and measures of internalizing symptoms and perceived stress through an online platform in May 2020. One month later, 288 participants completed a follow-up questionnaire to assess reliability of the PSQ and longitudinal associations between stress and internalizing symptoms. Results: Results supported the validity/reliability of the PSQ and indicated that stressful events were highly prevalent in May, particularly among younger, female, and Black emerging adults. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were high overall, but decreased at the follow-up assessment. Pandemic-related stress was moderately associated with both depression and anxiety at each assessment, but baseline stress did not predict change in symptoms when controlling for baseline symptoms. Conclusions: Results provide empirical evidence that emerging adults are at high risk for depression and anxiety related to the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight specific types of experiences associated with greatest risk. Further, this study provides support for a questionnaire measure of experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic that can be applied in future work to advance understanding of risk and resilience in response to stressful events.