Friendship, perceived mattering and happiness: a study of American and Turkish college students

Although it is well established that friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, less is known about how friendship experiences might promote happiness. The current investigation addressed this gap by testing a mediational model proposing that perceived mattering explains the association of friendship quality with happiness among college students in Turkey and the United States. An alternative model suggesting friendship quality as the mediator was also tested to enhance confidence in the proposed model. SEM analyses revealed that perceived mattering mediated the association of friendship with happiness only in the American sample. In the Turkish sample, friendship quality mediated the association between mattering and happiness. Findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural research and suggest that the underlying processes and psychological mechanisms related to the friendship-happiness link might be different in different cultures.     

Higher Education and Health Care Development: The Case of Northern Cyprus

The aim of this study is to investigate long-run equilibrium relationship and the direction of causality between health care development and higher education in Northern Cyprus, which has shown a tremendous development in higher education sector. Results of the present study reveal that higher education is a long term determinant of health care development in this small island. Health care in Northern Cyprus converges to its long term equilibrium level by 35.2 % speed of adjustment every year through the channel of higher education growth in Northern Cyprus. The other finding of this study is that there exists unidirectional causality in the short term period that runs from higher education growth to health care growth in Northern Cyprus.     

Pilot Testing and Preliminary Psychometric Validation of the Polish Translation of the EORTC INFO25 Questionnaire

The quality of information that oncological patients receive from health care professionals is an underestimated issue in Poland and Eastern European countries. There is lack of sufficient data on this subject. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) supplies a new tool for measuring the quality of information provided to cancer patients. The purpose of the study is the translation into Polish, pilot testing and preliminary validation of the EORTC information module (INFO25). Following the EORTC translation procedures, forward and back translations of the questionnaire were performed (English?→?Polish, Polish?→?English). The intermediate version of the INFO25 was pilot-tested together with the general questionnaire of quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30). Reliability, validity and known-group comparison tests were performed. A total of 21 patients with different cancer diagnoses were recruited into the study (7 women and 14 men; mean age of 60,2 years, age range 25–73 years). Apart from filling out the INFO25, patients were interviewed about the difficulties with answering every questionnaire item. Patients' comments were analyzed and minor language changes were made to the initial translation. The internal consistency of the INFO25 showed a reliability of 0,78. The final version of the Polish translation of the INFO25 module was obtained and approved by the EORTC Quality of Life Department. It can now be used in clinical setting and for scientific purposes.     

Development and Construct Validation of the Individuation Test for Emerging Adults (ITEA)

This article presents the construction, exploratory dimensionality analysis (Study 1), and validation (Study 2) of the self-report and 36-item Individuation Test for Emerging Adults (ITEA). It is the first instrument to measure different aspects of individuation (in relation to mother and father) specifically in emerging adulthood. The construct validity of the final 5-factor structure (Support Seeking, Connectedness, Intrusiveness, Self-Reliance, and Fear of Disappointing the Parent) was satisfactory. The results of multigroup analyses demonstrated that the factor structure is stable across male and female emerging adults for ITEA assessments in relation to both mother and father. The ITEA scales also show good internal consistency and concurrent validity against Emotional, Conflictual, and Functional Dependence scales of the Psychological Separation Inventory.     

A Feminist Genealogy of the Lived Body? Rethinking the Gendered Body as a Site of Excess and Indeterminacy

This essay offers a rethinking of the gendered body as both lived and historically constituted. These two dimensions are sometimes seen as irreconcilable, especially by some proponents of post-structuralism who are critical of phenomenology. My contention is that when approaching gender, Merleau-Ponty’s paradoxical formulation of the body as “always something other than what it is” can accompany a genealogy of the body. The body, as excessive, indeterminate, and ambiguous in Merleau-Pontian phenomenology, is at the same time the very object and product of certain techniques and procedures developed since the nineteenth century, as Foucault documents. Not only are phenomenology and genealogy compatible in this context, but thinking them together is necessary in order to illuminate the multi-faceted complexity of the embodiment of gender. The weight of this necessity is especially felt when approaching sexual violence, which tends to take place at the very intersection of the body-as-lived and the body-as-constituted.     

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults with Sleep Apnea

AAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood illness. In some patients, this illness may persist into adulthood and an association between ADHD and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) has been found in childhood. However, it is unclear how OSA and ADHD coincide in adulthood. Therefore, to explore the relationship between OSA and adult ADHD the current investigation utilized a clinically-based cross-sectional survey. Subjects consisted of 81 treatment-naïve OSA patients and 32 controls. Measures included each patient completed a questionnaire regarding sleep, Adult ADHD scale. Clinical information, body mass index, 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and polysomnography.The subjects with Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) ≥ 5 events/h were defined as patients with OSA. The control group was accepted as individuals with AHI > 0 events/h. The prevalence of adult ADHD was not different between the patients with OSA and the control group [(7.4 % (6/75) vs. 6.3 % (2/30), p = 0.8, respectively]. OSA patients with ADHD, as compared with those without, had higher anxiety scores and poorer physical component scores of quality of life and higher ESS scores. ADHD scores in patients with OSA were associated with anxiety and depression scores and SF36 physical and mental component scores in bivariate analyses. Thus, in our sample ADHD was not a frequent illness in adult patients with OSA. However, in patients with OSA and ADHD higher levels of anxiety and daytime sleepiness and poorer quality of life was found.     

An experimental study of attitudes toward homosexuals

A major shortcoming of research on homophobic attitude change has been methodological deficiencies. This report presents details of an experimental design, along with results.

A Solomon Four‐Group Experimental Design (SFGD) was employed for the study. Ninety‐two volunteer college students at a Mid‐Atlantic university were randomly assigned to four groups, two of which represented the classic experimental design (with pre‐test and post‐test for both experimental and control group) while the two remaining groups parallel the post‐test only design (with no pre‐test for both experimental and control group).

The principal independent and dependent variables of the study were positive social interaction with homosexuals and the degree of homophobia. Findings indicated that interaction strongly influences reduction of homophobic behavior.     

Absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy of Er3+-doped SrAl2O4 ceramic phosphors

A spectroscopic characterization of Er³⁺-doped SrAl₂O₄ phosphor materials synthesized by a solid-state reaction method with Er concentrations varying from 0.1 to 1?mol% has been performed by studying photoluminescence (PL) in the temperature range 10 to 360?K and absorption spectra. PL signals containing five emission bands at 1492, 1529, 1541, 1558, and 1600?nm, respectively, have been observed at room temperature for Er³⁺ transitions in the near infrared region. The samples exhibit a main luminescence peak at 1.54?µm, which is assigned to recombination via an intra-4f Er³⁺ transition. Sharp bands centered at around 378, 488, 521, 651, 980, 1492, and 1538?nm in the absorption spectra can be associated with transitions from ⁴I_15/2 level to ²H_9/2, ⁴F_7/2, ²H_11/2, ⁴F_9/2, ⁴I_11/2, ²H_11/2, and ⁴I_13/2 levels, respectively. The sharp emission peaks and excellent luminescence properties show that SrAl₂O₄ is a suitable host for rare-earth-doped phosphors, which may be suitable for optical applications.     

Family Background and Individual Measures as Predictors of Turkish Primary School Children's Academic Achievement

The primary purpose of this study was to predict academic grade point averages (GPAs) of Turki primary school children, using family background and individual measures (sociometric standing, self-reported loneliness, and social efficacy) as predictors. We hypothesized that these two measures would explain the wide variation in GPA for samples differing with respect to sex and paternal education. Regression analyses with male and female subsamples revealed that the background measures explained twice as much variance in GPA, popularity, and loneliness for girls as for boys. Another finding was that the background measures explained a greater proportion of the variance in GPA for children with less-versus more-educated fathers, whereas individual measures explained a greater proportion of the variance for children with more as opposed to less educated fathers.