"If You're Frail You've Had It": A Theory of Planned Behavior Study of Student Nurses' Attitudes Towards Working with Older Patients

Background: The developed world's population is aging but care of older patients is unpopular in nursing.
Objectives: To determine student nurses' attitudes towards working with older patients and analyze underlying factors.
Method: 172 UK student nurses were surveyed using the theory of planned behavior.
Results: Positive intentions were related to attitudes ( p <0.01) and subjective norms ( p <0.05). Three underlying factors, intolerance ( p <0.01), humanism ( p <0.05), and concern about aging ( p <0.01) differentiated more and less positive participants.
Discussion: Results are only partly consistent with previous findings. Future attitudinal research in this area must be more tightly specified to be relevant to health care and should measure actual behavior and employed nurses' views. Nursing curricula should refer to the three relevant factors.     

Seasonal changes in open-field behavior in wild male meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)

Open-field behavior of free-living meadow voles was measured in males held overnight in the laboratory. Movement variables were positively correlated, and had negative associations with grooming and freezing. Parameters including activity, freezing, urinating, and grooming showed annual fluctuations related to the reproductive season. Together with the results of a previous study showing castration of wild voles results in altered open-field behavior, these results emphasize the role of testicular hormones in influencing this behavior. Factor analysis identified an activity component accounting for 39% of the variation, but other parameters were little simplified by this procedure. Most factors cycled annually, and significant variation was found in all eight factors during the 4-year sample. Open-field behavior varied between different reproductive and age segments of the population, and may be related to population processes such as dispersal.     

Psychology,population, and reproductive behavior

This special section on international perspectives in psychology focuses on population issues and reproductive behavior across national and cultural boundaries, emphasizing the responsibility of psychologists and colleagues in related disciplines to generate and communicate culturally mindful findings likely to shape public health policy and improve human well-being. After considering the historical and policy context, it highlights internationally collaborative research projects in the Czech Republic, Egypt, Mexico, and the United States that address reproductive behavior, women's roles and status, responsible parenthood, and abortion legislation in terms of cultural context, gender equity, the needs of adolescents, and public health policy. The articles illustrate the importance of the cultural context within which psychological research is conducted and how psychology can be informed by international perspectives.     

流动人口生殖健康服务质量评价的相关理论研究

开展城市流动人口的生殖健康服务质量评价研究对于促进我国流动人口生殖健康状况持续改进和公平地享有生殖健康服务具有重要意义。从生殖健康的相关基本理论,我国生殖健康服务的政策支持,卫生服务质量评价的经典理论,系统思想及系统论,流动人口的特征等几个方面进行了流动人口生殖健康服务评价的理论基础系统论述。     

Where have all the behaviorists gone?

Many of the world's current problems are the result of behavior, and traditional appeals to mental determinants are again proving inadequate. The time for a behavioristic alternative appears ripe, yet many behaviorists seem to be becoming less behavioristic and more mentalistic. When confronted with the complexity of human behavior many are resorting to the intellectual comfort and safety of mentalism. A recent example of this tendency (Schwartz et al, 1978) is presented and discussed. Additionally, speculations regarding the origins of the resurgence of mentalism are presented, and it is proposed that arranging histories which provide for more rigorous and lasting control of verbal behavior about behavior may serve to improve the situation.     

"Demographic Futures for Christianity and the World Religions"

Abstract :  Since before 1970 Christian researchers have been tracking the massive demographic shift of Christianity to the Southern Hemisphere and noting the increasingly religious nature of populations around the world. At the same time, writers on the future of religion have been drawn to extreme portrayals of decline or revival of religion. However, the world's religious situation is replete with detailed information, drawn from enormous data collections on religious affiliation and questions about religion in government censuses. Quantitative tools, utilizing this information in the context of demography provide a more nuanced view of humankind's religious future. Demographic trends coupled with conservative estimates of conversions and defections envision over 80% of the world's population will continue to be affiliated with religions 200 years into the future. This religious future will have a profound influence on Christian theology, relations between religions, and the interaction between religion and politics.     

The neglected 95%: why American psychology needs to become less American

This article proposes that psychological research published in APA journals focuses too narrowly on Americans, who comprise less than 5% of the world's population. The result is an understanding of psychology that is incomplete and does not adequately represent humanity. First, an analysis of articles published in six premier APA journals is presented, showing that the contributors, samples, and editorial leadership of the journals are predominantly American. Then, a demographic profile of the human population is presented to show that the majority of the world's population lives in conditions vastly different from the conditions of Americans, underlining doubts of how well American psychological research can be said to represent humanity. The reasons for the narrowness of American psychological research are examined, with a focus on a philosophy of science that emphasizes fundamental processes and ignores or strips away cultural context. Finally, several suggestions for broadening the scope of American psychology are offered.     

关于“代孕爸爸”事件的生命伦理与法律问题思考

全球首位“代孕爸爸”托马斯&#183;比提的高调出现,带来了一场激烈的关于生命伦理与法律的大讨论。变性人的婚姻、生育及代孕问题让我们不得不对变性手术、人工辅助生殖技术以及代孕技术这些新兴生命技术进行再思考。我们不仅要肯定新兴生命技术的合理性,也要防止其所产生的潜在负面影响。合理利用新兴生命技术,客观地分析该事件并制定相应的法规是避免出现伦理道德和社会混乱的有效途径。     

Chance, choice, and the future of reproduction

The evolution of reproduction has been characterized by the development of complex biological and behavioral mechanisms that serve to regulate chance events. Human reproduction has been characterized by the increasing importance of individual choice. Some contemporary manifestations of this broad trend are the high incidence of contraceptive and "proceptive" behavior among couples in Western, industrialized nations. The former behavior willingly attempts to prevent conception while the latter actively attempts to induce conception (such as concentrating intercourse around the time of ovulation). Both patterns of behavior indicate that a choice is being made. A 3-year study of 1000 women revealed proceptive behavior as the most important factor predicting occurance of conception among married couples in the United States. The general strategeis people follow while making childbearing decisions: termination, sequencing, and pre-planning form a continuum following the historical trend toward greater reproductive control. In the terminating strategy, a couple makes no decision about child bearing until the number of children they have become enough or too much. In the sequencing strategy, decisions to have children are made 1 child at a time until a satisfactory limit is reached. In the pre-planning strategy, a plan is worked out ahead of time and is subsequently carried out. As new reproductive technology is introduced and as progressive change is made in society's reproductive related values and beliefs, choice will continue to dominate chance as the highly likely trend for the future of reproduction. Surrogate maternity is just 1 example of this trend. However, these new options, which culminate in the theory and practice of "progensis," (still in its infancy), as well as offering a rich opportunity, can also incur psychological burdens on a couple. Thus, as with any kind of freedom, these developments will require care, caution and responsibility.     

Facebook tells me so: applying the theory of planned behavior to understand partner-monitoring behavior on Facebook

The social networking site (SNS) Facebook is becoming increasingly recognized as a medium through which individuals can investigate and monitor others' activities. However, little is known about whether Facebook monitoring behavior occurs within romantic relationships and, accordingly, the psychological predictors of this behavior. The present study employed an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework including self-esteem, partner trust, and demographic characteristics, to predict frequent Facebook partner-monitoring. Facebook users (N=244) in romantic relationships completed measures assessing the standard TPB constructs (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control), additional predictor variables (self-esteem and partner trust), and demographic characteristics (age, gender, relationship length, daily Facebook logins, and time spent per login). One week later, participants reported their level of Facebook partner-monitoring during the previous week. Regression analyses supported the standard TPB constructs of attitude and subjective norm in predicting intentions to engage in frequent Facebook partner-monitoring, with intention, in turn, predicting behavior. Partner trust, but not self-esteem, significantly predicted frequent Facebook partner-monitoring intentions. Of the demographic characteristics, daily Facebook logins significantly predicted both intention and behavior and, unexpectedly, relationship length directly affected behavior. Overall, the current study revealed that frequent Facebook partner-monitoring is influenced by attitudinal, normative, and relational factors and, potentially, increased visits to Facebook. These findings provide a new understanding of an individual's use of the world's leading SNS to monitor their partner's activities and provide a foundation for future studies to investigate the potential negative implications this activity may have for those in romantic relationships.     

The Influence of Culture on Consumer Impulsive Buying Behavior

Impulse buying generates over $4 billion in annual sales volume in the United States. With the growth of e‐commerce and television shopping channels, consumers have easy access to impulse purchasing opportunities, but little is known about this sudden, compelling, hedonically complex purchasing behavior in non‐Western cultures. Yet cultural factors moderate many aspects of consumer's impulsive buying behavior, including self‐identity, normative influences, the suppression of emotion, and the postponement of instant gratification. From a multi‐country survey of consumers in Australia, United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, our analyses show that both regional level factors (individualism–collectivism) and individual cultural difference factors (independent –interdependent self‐concept) systematically influence impulsive purchasing behavior.     

Personality and testosterone in men from a high-fertility population

Extraversion, a personality dimension associated with sociability, activity and dominance, predicts a man’s mating effort in various human populations. At a proximate level, individual differences in extraversion are likely to be mediated through testosterone, a strong hormonal correlate of men’s reproductive effort. However, the rare attempts to address this question have all been conducted in populations with low-fertility schedules, thus limiting the generality of the results. Using demographic, questionnaire and hormonal data from a high-fertility polygynous human population of Senegal, we first show that extraversion, a personality dimension predicting men’s mating behavior in this population, is associated with inter-individual differences in testosterone profiles, with men in the top quartile of extraversion distribution having 29% higher testosterone levels. We then show that personality profiles for neuroticism, openness and agreeableness are independent from testosterone levels. Since extraversion is the only personality dimension predicting men’s mating and reproductive success in this population, we suggest that variation in testosterone levels is primarily relevant for personality traits related to reproductive effort. The results have further implications to discuss possible evolutionary scenarios for the maintenance of variation in personality traits.     

The glucocorticoid contribution to obesity

Obesity is fast becoming the scourge of our time. It is one of the biggest causes of death and disease in the industrialized world, and affects as many as 32% of adults and 17% of children in the USA, considered one of the world's fattest nations. It can also cost countries billions of dollars per annum in direct and indirect care, latest estimates putting the USA bill for obesity-related costs at $147 billion in 2008. It is becoming clear that the pathophysiology of obesity is vastly more complicated than the simple equation of energy in minus energy out. A combination of genetics, sex, perinatal environment and life-style factors can influence diet and energy metabolism. In this regard, psychological stress can have significant long-term impact upon the propensity to gain and maintain weight. In this review, we will discuss the ability of psychological stress and ultimately glucocorticoids (GCs) to alter appetite regulation and metabolism. We will specifically focus on (i) GC regulation of appetite and adiposity, (ii) the apparent sexual dimorphism in stress effects on obesity and (iii) the ability of early life stress to programme obesity in the long term.     

Legal abortion worldwide: incidence and recent trends

CONTEXT: Information on abortion levels and trends can inform research and policies affecting maternal and reproductive health, but the incidence of legal abortion has not been assessed in nearly a decade. METHODS: Statistics on legal abortions in 2003 were compiled for 60 countries in which the procedure is broadly legal, and trends were assessed where possible. Data sources included published and unpublished reports from official national reporting systems, questionnaires sent to government agencies and nationally representative population surveys. The completeness of country estimates was assessed by officials involved in data collection and by in-country and regional experts. RESULTS: In recent years, more countries experienced a decline in legal abortion rates than an increase, among those for which statistics are complete and trend data are available. The most dramatic declines were in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where rates remained among the highest in the world. The highest estimated levels were in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where surveys indicate that women will have close to three abortions each on average in their lifetimes. The U.S. abortion rate dropped by 8% between 1996 and 2003, but remained higher than rates in many Northern and Western European countries. Rates increased in the Netherlands and New Zealand. The official abortion rate declined by 21% over seven years in China, which accounted for a third of the world's legal abortions in 1996. Trends in the abortion rate differed across age-groups in some countries. CONCLUSIONS: The abortion rate varies widely across the countries in which legal abortion is generally available and has declined in many countries since the mid-1990s.     

Animal Play and the Evolution of Morality: An Ethological Approach

In this paper we argue that there is much to learn about “wild justice” and the evolutionary origins of morality – behaving fairly – by studying social play behavior in group-living mammals. Because of its relatively wide distribution among the mammals, ethological investigation of play, informed by interdisciplinary cooperation, can provide a comparative perspective on the evolution of ethical behavior that is broader than is provided by the usual focus on primate sociality. Careful analysis of social play reveals rules of engagement that guide animals in their social encounters. Because of its significance in development, play may provide a foundation of fairness for other forms of cooperation that are advantageous to group living. Questions about the evolutionary roots of cooperation, fairness, trust, forgiveness, and morality are best answered by attention to the details of what animals do when they engage in social play – how they negotiate agreements to cooperate, to forgive, to behave fairly, and to develop trust. We consider questions such as why play fairly? Why did play evolve as it has? Does “being fair” mean being more fit? Do individual variations in play influence an individual’s reproductive fitness? Can we use information about the foundations of moral behavior in animals to help us understand ourselves? We conclude that there is likely to be strong selection for cooperative fair play because there are mutual benefits when individuals adopt this strategy and group stability may also be fostered. Numerous mechanisms have evolved to facilitate the initiation and maintenance of social play, to keep others engaged, so that agreeing to play fairly and the resulting benefits of doing so can be readily achieved.     

An Emerging Field in Religion and Reproductive Health

Separate from scholarship in religion and medicine, a burgeoning field in religion and population health, includes religion and reproductive health. In a survey of existing literature, we analyzed data by religious affiliation, discipline, geography and date. We found 377 peer-reviewed articles; most were categorized as family planning (129), sexual behavior (81), domestic violence (39), pregnancy (46), HIV/AIDS (71), and STDs (61). Most research occurred in North America (188 articles), Africa (52), and Europe (47). Article frequency increased over time, from 3 articles in 1980 to 38 articles in 2008. While field growth is evident, there is still no cohesive “scholarship” in religion and reproductive health.     

Predictive validity of the Chinese version of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire: psychometric properties and its short version

The success of screening for individuals at suicidal risk among the general population relies heavily on the availability of a reliable and validated instrument. However, there remains a lack of a well-validated screening tool for suicidal risk in Chinese, despite the fact that about a quarter of the world's suicides takes place in China. In view of the severity of the suicide problem among the Chinese population, there is a crucial need to develop robust screening tools locally. This study investigates the psychometric properties related to the Chinese version of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) with a 2-wave, population-based panel study in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. Two-thousand sixteen Chinese people were interviewed for their suicidality, psychological well-being, and ASIQ scores. The Chinese ASIQ was shown to have strong internal reliability, convergent validity, and factorial validity. This study also demonstrated its predictive validity by examining sensitivity and specificity in identifying subsequent suicidality. A 4-item short version of ASIQ was also developed.     

A new model for sexual conditioning: the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria)

Sexual conditioning investigations have primarily used rats and domestic quail as subjects. Although much has been learned from such experiments, the relative simplicity of rat and quail reproductive behavior prohibits investigation of certain experimental questions about sexual conditioning. In contrast, the reproductive behavior of male and female ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) is complex, involving courtship, bonding, and parental care. In the present experiment, male ring doves that were presented with a visual conditioned stimulus paired with access to their pair-bonded mate (the unconditioned stimulus) showed sexual conditioned responding in the presence of the conditioned stimulus. These results represent the first evidence of sexual conditioning in ring doves and illustrate the potential of ring doves as a useful model for future sexual conditioning investigations.     

辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤的关系及其辩证思考

辅助生殖技术给不孕患者带来了希望,为肿瘤患者保留了生育能力,另一方面也可能导致女性生殖系统肿瘤和一系列伦理学问题。因此,用哲学的观点客观地看待辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤发生风险之间的关系,将有助于临床医生进一步提高辅助生殖技术安全性的认识,选择最佳的促排卵方案。     

The enduring impact of violence against children

More than one billion children – half of all children in the world – are exposed to violence every year. The violence children are exposed to includes both direct experiences of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as indirectly witnessing violence in their homes, schools, and communities. What these various forms of violence share, based on a review of the literature, is their enduring potential for life-long consequences. These consequences include increases in the risks of injury, HIV, sexually transmitted infections, mental health problems, reproductive health problems, and non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes. Studies addressing biologic underpinnings of such consequences demonstrate that violence-associated toxic stress may cause damage to the nervous, endocrine, circulatory, musculo-skeletal, reproductive, respiratory, and immune systems. Furthermore, rigorous economic evaluations suggest that costs associated with the consequences of violence against children exceed $120 billion in the U.S. and account for up to 3.5% of the GDP in sub-regions of East Asia. The expanding literature confirming the mechanisms of consequences and the associated costs of violence against children has been accompanied by growing evidence on effective approaches to prevention. Moreover, the expanding evidence on prevention has been accompanied by a growing determination on the part of global leaders to accelerate action. Thus, as part of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development agenda, the UN has issued a call-to-action: to eliminate violence against children. This unprecedented UN call may foster new investments, to fuel new progress for protecting children around the world from violence and its preventable consequences.