Intolerance of Uncertainty and Health-Related Anxiety in Youth amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding and Weathering the Continuing Storm

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis that continues to impact individuals worldwide. While children may be less susceptible to severe medical complications, they are nonetheless vulnerable to stress and anxiety associated with the pandemic. However, current understanding of psychological functioning and potential strategies to mitigate distress amid a pandemic is naturally limited. Consequently, this article is an attempt to fill that gap. Existing literature on pandemics, health-related anxieties, intolerance of uncertainty, and psychopathological sequelae is summarized within the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions from the empirical data and emerging theoretical models are reviewed and synthesized. Finally, several potentially engaging and effective examples of developmentally appropriate interventions targeting intolerance of uncertainty and health-related anxieties in pediatric patients during the peri- and post-pandemic periods are described.

     

Hindu Perspectives on the Thirst for Transcendence

Abstract. Definitions of nature and transcendence are given, and the framework of Hindu thought is presented. The levels of reality as discovered by physics are then discussed, which leads us to revise our notions of reality and objectivity. Transcendence is defined as something beyond matter‐energy in space‐time and is explored in several contexts of modern science, as in pre‐Big‐Bang state, negative entropy, information, complexity, and others. Finally, a philosophical reflection on consciousness is presented.     

Parenting styles and its impact on children – a cross cultural review with a focus on India

Parenting is a dynamic process, influenced by socio-cultural factors. It is an important contributing factor to child development and childhood psychopathology. Research investigating association between parenting styles and child outcome are limited in India. This paper aims to review studies conducted in West and in India in order to study cultural differences in parenting styles and its outcome. We found that despite hypothesized cultural differences between the West and India, the effect of parenting styles on children appear to be similar across culture, and culture did not serve as a moderator for parenting style and child outcome. An Authoritative parenting styles was associated with better outcome than authoritarian and neglectful/uninvolved parenting style in both Western countries and in India. Findings on indulgent/permissive parenting style were mixed in both Western countries and in India. The article discusses cultural shift in the parenting styles, and its implications for the future.     

Examining the impact of social commerce dimensions on customers' value cocreation: The mediating effect of social trust

One of the main aspects of the Web 2.0 revolution has been social commerce that has resulted in many people across the world increasingly engaging with commercial activities over social media platforms. However, the academic and research interest in social commerce is still low, and more studies are required to accelerate awareness of the most important issues relating to social commerce, in particular, social trust and value cocreation. Thus, the present study aims to propose a conceptual model that is intended to enable greater understanding of the causal interactions between social commerce constructs, social trust, and customer value cocreation. We collected data using a sample of 300 followers and fans of online Facebook communities, and we analysed them by using a structural equation model. The results show that social commerce constructs positively impact on social trust. Furthermore, we found that social trust positively impacts on the three dimensions of customer value cocreation. We found that social trust mediates the relationship between the social commerce and customer value cocreation dimensions. The paper presents a considerable theoretical contribution for being the first study that links social commerce constructs with social trust. The linkage between social commerce constructs, social trust, and customer value cocreation dimensions will also be beneficial for social media marketing strategists and managers.     

The Impact of the “Troubles” on Therapy Groups in Northern Ireland

Since September 11, 2001, terrorism has become familiar to us. The word itself rolls readily off our lips and we wonder about, and struggle with, the lasting consequences of that late summer day. In this paper we speak about thirty-four years of civil strife and terrorism in Northern Ireland. We examine the traumatic impact of that chronic strife on the therapy groups in Northern Ireland. Specifically we examine its impact on therapy groups-as-a-whole, on therapy group members and their interactions with each other, and on the group therapists who lead those groups. A brief review of the history of the strife and its impact on the citizenry precedes these central discussions. We conclude with suggestions about how we may use specially designed groups to enable therapists to address those effects in their groups. Some of these suggestions are already underway.     

Science and the Spiritual Vision: A Hindu Perspective

Every religious tradition has a spiritual basis. Hinduism is no exception. In this paper the spiritual framework of Hinduism is discussed, after a brief historical background, with reference to scientific worldviews. Particular attention is paid to the notions of objective knowledge, transcendental reality, and the Hindu view on the meaning of human existence.     

Psychological factors influencing the vividness and affect of visitors’ recall of nostalgic life memories in museums

Current Psychology - This study investigated the effect of nostalgia on museum visitors’ memories of life episodes from the distant past following their encounters with museum objects they...     

Do children think that inheritance determines height and weight?

Three studies were conducted to investigate if children think that physical growth is determined by inheritance. All three studies employed the “switched‐at‐birth” task. Study 1 investigated if children and adults thought that height and weight were determined by parentage. Study 2 examined preschoolers and elementary school children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining weight. Study 2a examined children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining height. Results indicate that overall, preschoolers and third graders have more of an inheritance bias for height than for weight. However, when nutrition was introduced, apart from third graders, all other grades reasoned that nutrition played a greater role in determining weight. Overall, these results indicate that even young children have a rudimentary but differentiated theory of the role of inheritance in determining height and weight.

Highlights

• Participants were presented with switched‐at‐birth tasks to determine if they thought that parentage and/or nutrition influences height and weight.
• Young children viewed height as determined more by parentage than weight, suggesting that they have a differentiated and autonomous theory for the determination of height.

     

Development of norms for executive functions in typically-developing Indian urban preschool children and its association with nutritional status

Executive functions (EFs) are essential and important for achieving success in children’s everyday lives and play a fundamental role in children’s cognitive, academic, social, emotional and behavioral functioning. A cross-sectional study was carried out to develop age- and sex-specific norms for EFs using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version (BRIEF-P) among 2- to 5-year-olds from urban Bangalore, India. In addition, the association between EFs and anthropometric measures, a marker of nutritional status, is also examined. Primary caregivers of 412 children, equally distributed by age and sex, participated. Raw scores for each domain and indices were converted to standard t-scores and percentiles were computed. A t-score at or above 63 corresponding to the 90th percentile was considered as the cutoff for executive dysfunction in this sample. The prevalence of executive dysfunction is 10% based on the Global Executive Composite score of the BRIEF-P. The cutoff score for identifying executive dysfunction using existing United States (US) norms is higher compared to the cutoff score obtained in the current study. Therefore, using US norms for Indian children could result in the prevalence of executive dysfunction been underestimated. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that stunted and underweight children have significantly elevated EF scores after adjusting for age, sex and socioeconomic status (SES; p < .01). A greater understanding of EFs in preschool children is important for the early identification of executive dysfunction and implementing interventions to improve their future prospects. This study also shows that undernourished children are more likely to have executive dysfunction.