The Janus-faced effects of COVID-19 perceptions on family healthy eating behavior: Parent's negative experience as a mediator and gender as a moderator

Intention to receive the monkeypox vaccine and its psychological and sociodemographic predictors: a cross-sectional survey in the general population of Peru

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to identify predictors of intention to be vaccinated against Monkeypox (Mpox) in a sample of Peruvian citizens.  METHODS: A set of sociodemographic and psychological predictors were used, such as sex, sexual orientation, educational level, previous diagnosis of COVID-19, marital status, complete vaccination against COVID-19, employment status, living with vulnerable people, presence of chronic disease, area of residence, perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, fear of Mpox, conspiracy beliefs about Mpox, among others. A total of 472 Peruvian adults participated, selected by non-probabilistic snowball convenience sampling. A sociodemographic survey, the Mpox Fear Scale, was used. Conspiracy Beliefs about Mpox was assessed using three questions created specifically for this study. For inferential purposes, simple ordinal regressions ("crude models") were performed between each factor and the outcome.  RESULTS: Regarding their intention to be vaccinated against Mpox, more than 60% expressed clear approval. Being non-heterosexual, having greater emotional fear of Mpox, and perceiving some potential for this disease to become the next pandemic were related to greater intention to vaccinate. On the other hand, being older, having low perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, and having higher conspiracy beliefs about Mpox were associated with lower intention to vaccinate.  CONCLUSION: The study provides initial information for future research seeking to better analyze Mpox vaccination intention. In addition, cross-sectional data are provided that can be used to develop public health policies that target subgroups with low prevalence of intention to vaccinate against Mpox.

Gender and Work Experience as Moderators of Relations between Management Level, Physical Activity, Eating Attitudes, and Social Skills of Managers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Being employed in a managerial position is often associated with maintaining high standards in many aspects of life. Many leaders pay attention to their physical activity, eating habits, and social skills. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought additional difficulties to the already-demanding job of managing people and forced managers to make many changes to their daily functioning at work. The main goal of this study was to establish whether Gender, Experience, and Management Level influenced respondents' healthy behaviors (eating attitudes and physical activity) or soft skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic with a sample of 348 managers from a variety of companies (n = 222 women, n = 126 men) with different levels of experience and responsibility. The authors used the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), four questions from the Physical Activity Objectives Questionnaire, and a self-authored soft skills questionnaire. The results showed that, compared to females, males were characterized by lower levels on all three EAT-26 scales: Bulimia and Food Preoccupation, Oral Control, and Dieting. On the other hand, male respondents who held high managerial positions were characterized by high levels of Dieting, Oral Control, Bulimia, and Food Preoccupation. This analysis provides insights that may help improve the quality of life of employees; however, further research is needed to investigate the direct influence of managers on employees in different industries.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health, early childhood development, and parental practices: a global scoping review

BACKGROUND

In March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), generating stark economic and social repercussions that directly or indirectly affected families' wellbeing and health status.

AIMS

This review aims at mapping the existing evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health, early childhood development, and parental practices, worldwide, to identify evidence gaps and better inform future delivery of care and health policy measures.

METHODS

Following the protocol defined by PRISMA-ScR, this scoping review has searched for relevant studies published between January 2020 and June 2021, selecting evidence sources based on pre-established criteria. From a total of 2,308 articles, data were extracted from 537 publications from 35 countries on all three health domains.

RESULTS

The combined stressors brought forth by the pandemic have exerted a heavy burden on the mental health of mothers and the development of young children, partly mediated by its impact on parental practices.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite remaining gaps, we have identified sufficient evidence pointing to an urgent need for more concerted global research efforts and rapid policy responses to timely address severe and pervasive negative impacts to the mental health of mothers and children at a key developmental stage.

A three wave longitudinal study of school innovation climate and entrepreneurship teachers’ acceptance to technology: Moderating role of knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding

Entrepreneurship and business school teachers must extensively use technological and innovative tools to increase the efficacy of their instructional methods. This research aimed to investigate the teachers’ acceptance of technology in the school innovation climate, to enhance the use and effectiveness of educational technology in Thai entrepreneurship and business schools. Furthermore, the conditional influence of knowledge hiding and sharing on the link between school innovation climate and educational technology has been investigated and reported. Using a longitudinal study design data were gathered from the 204 entrepreneurship teachers of six different universities in Pattani, Bangkok, and Songkla Provinces, Thailand. Based on SamrtPLS 3.3.3 analysis, results revealed that the “school innovation climate” positively impacts educational technology use. Additionally, knowledge hiding and sharing moderated the relationship between “school innovation climate” and acceptance of educational technology (actual use of educational technology, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of educational technology). Current research attempted to bridge the gap between knowledge management and innovation theories application in entrepreneurship education. The study brings key policy implications for school leaders and practitioners and suggests several directions for future research.

Being a parent, emotional stability, and adjustment disorder symptoms in the face of COVID-19

Objective

The current study examines the correlation between emotional stability and symptoms related to adjustment to the stresses related to the pandemic for parents and nonparents at the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel.

Background

At the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, governments prohibited public gatherings and demanded social distancing. These challenges may be especially difficult for individuals with low levels of emotional stability as adaptation difficulties may lead to stress-related outcomes, such as adjustment disorder symptoms. Additionally, in the face of a significant external threat and the demand for intensive joint familial time at home, the parental role becomes especially salient.

Methods

Two hundred forty-four Israeli adults filled in self-reported e-version questionnaires regarding emotional stability, adjustment disorder symptoms, and background variables. A cross-sectional design was used to examine the association between emotional stability and adjustment disorder symptoms, as well as the potential moderation by parenting status.

Results

The findings revealed that the levels of emotional stability were negatively correlated with adjustment disorder symptoms, while being a parent mitigated this correlation. This correlation was nonsignificant among parents.

Conclusion and Implications

It appears that the identity salience of parental role in the current stressful situation and its associated strain may have overcome the advantage of emotional stability. The identity of being a parent has the potential to dismiss it. Here, the social role emerges as more forcible than the personality trait. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

Application of Health Belief Model for the assessment of COVID-19 preventive behavior and its determinants among students: A structural equation modeling analysis

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 is a new pandemic that poses a threat to people globally. In Ethiopia, where classrooms are limited, students are at higher risk for COVID-19 unless they take consistent preventative actions. However, there is a lack of evidence in the study area regarding student compliance with COVID-19 preventive behavior (CPB) and its predictors.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess CPB and its predictors among students based on the perspective of the Health Belief Model (HBM).

METHOD AND MATERIALS

A school-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from November to December 2020 to evaluate the determinants of CPB among high school students using a self-administered structured questionnaire. 370 participants were selected using stratified simple random sampling. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analyses to evaluate the measurement and structural models proposed by the HBM and to identify associations between HBM variables. A T-value of > 1.96 with 95% CI and a P-value of < 0.05 were used to declare the statistical significance of path coefficients.

RESULT

A total of 370 students participated with a response rate of 92%. The median (interquartile range) age of the participants (51.9% females) was 18 (2) years. Only 97 (26.2%), 121 (32.7%), and 108 (29.2%) of the students had good practice in keeping physical distance, frequent hand washing, and facemask use respectively. The HBM explained 43% of the variance in CPB. Perceived barrier (β = - 0.15, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (β = 0.51, p <0.001) were significant predictors of student compliance to CPB. Moreover, the measurement model demonstrated that the instrument had acceptable reliability and validity.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

COVID-19 prevention practice is quite low among students. HBM demonstrated adequate predictive utility in predicting CPBs among students, where perceived barriers and self-efficacy emerged as significant predictors of CPBs. According to the findings of this study, theory-based behavioral change interventions are urgently required for students to improve their prevention practice. Furthermore, these interventions will be effective if they are designed to remove barriers to CPBs and improve students' self-efficacy in taking preventive measures.

Connections between Children's Eating Habits, Mental Health, and Parental Stress

BACKGROUND

Obesity and eating disorders are increasing in occidental countries and can undermine physical and psychological health. Therefore, preventing the insurgency of unhealthy eating habits in childhood is fundamental. Parents can play an important role in assisting pediatricians, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists in the diagnosis of eating disorders because they have an active role in observing and assessing the quality of their children's eating habits.

METHODS

In our study, we collected data from a sample of children (n = 125) and their parents (n = 161) without symptoms related to eating disorders. Parents assessed the eating habits, behavior problems, and mental health of their children and parental stress. In addition, we measured body mass index, anxiety, and lifestyle in children. Data were analyzed with bivariate correlation and MIMIC models.

RESULTS

Both mothers' and fathers' assessments of children's eating habits are reliable. Unhealthy eating habits are connected with children's behavioral problems and parental stress. We did not find significant differences in feeding styles and ways of assessing the quality of eating habits between mothers and fathers. Our study showed greater sensitivity of mothers toward the physical fitness of their children rather than fathers.

CONCLUSIONS

Mothers and fathers both proved to be good observers of their children's eating behavior, and they could cooperate with medical and psychological operators in preventing the risk of obesity.

Conservatism predicts aversion to consequential Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize society by automating tasks as diverse as driving cars, diagnosing diseases, and providing legal advice. The degree to which AI can improve outcomes in these and other domains depends on how comfortable people are trusting AI for these tasks, which in turn depends on lay perceptions of AI. The present research examines how these critical lay perceptions may vary as a function of conservatism. Using five survey experiments, we find that political conservatism is associated with low comfort with and trust in AI-i.e., with AI aversion. This relationship between conservatism and AI aversion is explained by the link between conservatism and risk perception; more conservative individuals perceive AI as being riskier and are therefore more averse to its adoption. Finally, we test whether a moral reframing intervention can reduce AI aversion among conservatives.

No one is safe! But who's more susceptible? Locus of control moderates pandemic perceptions' effects on job insecurity and psychosocial factors amongst MENA hospitality frontliners: a PLS-SEM approach

Background

The research aimed to formulate and test a model concerning COVID-19 perceptions effects on job insecurity and a set of psychosocial factors comprising anxiety, depression, job burnout and job alienation in the Middle East and North African (hereafter, MENA) regional context. Also, the study attempted to examine whether locus of control can moderate these hypothesised linkages amongst customer service employees working in MENA hospitality organisations.

Methods

The study is based on a sample of 885 responses to an online survey and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

Results

The main findings show the existence of a significant correlation between COVID perceptions and job insecurity and all psychosocial factors, i.e., more intense COVID-19 perceptions accompany higher levels of job insecurity, anxiety, depression, job burnout and job alienation. Furthermore, our results revealed that, in pandemic time, hospitality customer service employees with external locus of control are more likely to suffer higher alienation, anxiety and depression than those with internal locus of control.

Conclusions

The research originality centres on the establishment that COVID-19 has a severe negative impact within the hospitality customer service labour force (in the MENA region). These effects were more profound for participants who claimed external locus of control than those with internal locus of control.

Who's more vulnerable? A generational investigation of COVID-19 perceptions' effect on Organisational citizenship Behaviours in the MENA region: job insecurity, burnout and job satisfaction as mediators

BACKGROUND

This paper is an empirical investigation that examines a path model linking COVID-19 perceptions to organisational citizenship behaviour (OCBs) via three mediators: job insecurity, burnout, and job satisfaction. The research examines the path model invariance spanning Generations X, Y, and Z. Three countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were the focus of the study.

METHODS

The data was collected from a sample of employees in service companies (n = 578). We used a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Our findings reveal that COVID-19 perceptions positively predict job insecurity, which positively impacts burnout levels. Burnout negatively predicts job satisfaction. The findings established that job satisfaction positively predicts OCBs. The mediation analysis determined that job insecurity, burnout and job satisfaction convey the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions onto OCBs. Finally, our hypothesised model is non-equivalent across Generations X, Y and Z. In that regard, our multi-group analysis revealed that the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions on OCBs were only valid amongst younger generations, i.e., Generation Y and Generation Z. Specifically, younger generations are substantially more vulnerable to the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions on their engagement in OCBs than Generation X whose job satisfaction blocks the effects of COVID-19 perceptions on OCBs.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study extends our knowledge of workplace generational differences in responding to the perceptions of crises or pandemics. It offers evidence that suggests that burnout, job attitudes and organisational outcomes change differently across generations in pandemic times.

What motivates consumers to buy organic foods? Results of an empirical study in the United States

Consumers perceive organic foods as more nutritious, natural, and environmentally friendly than non-organic or conventional foods. Since organic foods developed, studies on consumer behavior and organic foods have contributed significantly to its development. The presesent study aims to identify the factors affecting consumer buying behaviour toward organic foods in the United States. Survey data are collected from 770 consumers in the Midwest, United States. ANOVA, multiple linear regression, factor analysis, independent t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis are used to analyze the collected primary data. This research confirms health consciousness, consumer knowledge, perceived or subjective norms, and perception of price influence consumers’ attitudes toward buying organic foods. Availability is another factor that affected the purchase intentions of consumers. Age, education, and income are demographic factors that also impact consumers’ buying behavior. The findings help marketers of organic foods design strategies to succeed in the US’s fast-growing organic foods market.