Correlations among Psychological Resilience, Self-Efficacy, and Negative Emotion in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Changes in the Quality of Life, Psychological Status, Medication Compliance, and Prognosis of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction after PCI by Applying PDCA Cycle Management Model

Objective

To discuss the changes in the quality of life, psychological status, medication compliance, and prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by applying plan-do-check-action (PDCA) cycle management model.

Methods

A total of 125 patients with AMI who underwent PCI in our hospital from June 2018 to June 2020 were selected and divided into control group (n = 62) and research group (n = 63) by the random number method. The conventional nursing measures were used in the control group, and the PDCA cycle management model on the basis of the control group was used in the research group. The changes in the quality of life, psychological status, medication compliance, and prognosis were observed.

Results

After intervention, the Generic Quality of Life Inventory-74 scores and the self-made medication compliance questionnaire score of the research group were higher than the control group (P < 0.05). After intervention, the self-rating anxiety scale score and self-rating depression scale score of the research group were lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The total incidence of adverse events in the research group (7.94%) was lower than that in the control group (20.97%) (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

After the application of PDCA cycle management model, the quality of life, psychological status, medication compliance, and prognosis of AMI patients who underwent PCI were improved.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

The percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the most common treatment for coronary artery disease. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), alongside mortality and recurrence rates, is a key outcome indicator for PCI.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing HRQoL in patients with coronary artery disease who had received PCI.

METHODS

A convenience sample from the cardiovascular center of a tertiary hospital in South Korea was recruited for this descriptive, cross-sectional study. This study was conducted using a structured questionnaire and patients' medical records on a sample of 210 patients with coronary artery disease who were ≥ 18 years old and > 1 month post-PCI. The questionnaire collected information on general, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t test, one-way analysis of variance, the Scheffé test, and the Pearson correlation test. A multiple linear regression, together with the significant variables in univariate analysis, was used to determine the variables that significantly influenced HRQoL.

RESULTS

HRQoL was found to vary significantly with age, marital status, subjective economic status, primary caregiver, duration since first PCI, New York Heart Association class, anxiety, depression, and social support. The significant general characteristics shown to affect HRQoL in patients who had undergone PCI included age, marital status, and primary caregiver. The significant clinical characteristics shown to affect HRQoL included duration from first PCI and New York Heart Association class. The significant psychosocial characteristics shown to affect HRQoL included anxiety and depression. Primary caregiver and New York Heart Association class were identified as having the greatest impact on HRQoL in the PCI patients in this study.

CONCLUSIONS

To enhance HRQoL in patients who had received PCI, their post-PCI physical and psychological symptoms should be regularly assessed. Furthermore, intervention strategies aimed to improve quality of life in patients with severe functional limitations and those receiving family care are necessary.

Workplace isolation amongst home-based teleworkers: Can psychological capital make a difference?

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, home-based teleworking has become the new normal. Researchers have suggested workplace isolation as the most frequently reported employee concern of teleworkers. Workplace isolation is reported to have many undesirable outcomes. However, limited studies have examined the influence of workplace isolation on mental health and its underlying mechanisms. Drawing from the emotion-centered model of occupational stress and conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between workplace isolation and mental ill-health with negative emotions as a mediator and psychological capital as a moderator. METHODS: The data was collected from 322 home-based teleworkers working in Information Technology companies in India using a survey method. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS, SPSS and PROCESS macro. RESULTS: The results suggest the following. First, workplace isolation was associated with mental ill-health and negative emotions mediated this relationship. Second, psychological capital was found to buffer the effects of workplace isolation on negative emotions. Third, the conditional indirect effect of workplace isolation on mental ill-health through negative emotions was weaker in the presence of high psychological capital. CONCLUSION: The current study is the first one to examine the mediating role of negative emotions and the moderating role of psychological capital in the relationship between workplace isolation and mental ill-health among home-based teleworkers. This study demonstrates the importance of psychological capital as a personal resource that can help in coping with the negative effects of workplace isolation.

Resilience and associated psychological, social/cultural, behavioural, and biological factors in patients with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

AIMS

The aim of this systematic review of the literature is to synthesize the evidence regarding the associations between individual-level psychological, social/cultural, behavioral, and biological variables with resilience in patients with CVD.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL was conducted from database inception through March 2020. Studies with a quantitative research design were eligible for inclusion if published in English and focused on resilience among adults with CVD. Of the 788 articles retrieved, 34 studies (35 articles) were included in the review. Twenty-three studies focused on psychological factors, with findings of inverse relationships between resilience and depression, anxiety, and stress. Evidence regarding associations between resilience and social/cultural or behavioral variables was scarce. Four of the 6 studies regarding biological factors found low stress resilience in young adulthood was associated with early diagnoses of stroke, heart failure, and coronary heart disease.

CONCLUSION

Enhancing resilience may improve quality of life for CVD patients, but research is needed to further explore the complex relationships between resilience and associated variables. This research should prioritize under-represented groups (i.e. women and minority racial/ethnic groups), with the eventual goal of developing interventions to support resilience in CVD patients.

Resilience mediates the effect of self-efficacy on symptoms of prenatal anxiety among pregnant women: a nationwide smartphone cross-sectional study in China

Background

Prenatal anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental disorders during pregnancy. This study assessed the prevalence of prenatal anxiety and examined whether resilience could play the mediating role in the association between self-efficacy and symptoms of prenatal anxiety among pregnant women in China.

Methods

A nationwide smartphone cross-sectional study was carried out in three cities (Shenyang of Liaoning Province, Zhengzhou of Henan Province and Chongqing Municipality) in China from July 2018 to July 2019. The questionnaire consisted of questions on demographic characteristics, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Chinese version of General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES), and the 14-item Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14). A total of 665 pregnant women were recruited in this study. A hierarchical multiple regression model was employed to explore the associate factors and mediators of symptoms of prenatal anxiety. A structural equation model was employed to test the hypothesis that resilience mediates the association between self-efficacy and symptoms of prenatal anxiety.

Results

The prevalence of symptoms of prenatal anxiety was 36.4% in this study. Self-efficacy was negatively correlated with symptoms of prenatal anxiety (r = -0.366, P < 0.01). Resilience had a significant positive correlation with self-efficacy (r = 0.612, P < 0.01) and had a negative correlation with symptoms of prenatal anxiety (r = -0.427, P < 0.01). The hierarchical multiple regression model indicated that self-efficacy and resilience were the main factors associated with symptoms of prenatal anxiety and contributed to 11.9% and 6.3% to the variance of symptoms of prenatal anxiety, respectively. Resilience served as a mediator between self-efficacy and symptoms of prenatal anxiety (a*b = -0.198, Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap 95% Confidence interval: -0.270, -0.126).

Conclusions

Self-efficacy was a negative predictor of symptoms of prenatal anxiety among pregnant women. Moreover, resilience mediated the relation between self-efficacy and symptoms of prenatal anxiety among pregnant women in China. It was observed in this study that psychological interventions might be beneficial for pregnant women to relieve symptoms of prenatal anxiety through improved self-efficacy and resilience.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-021-03911-5.

Peer Victimization, Resilience and Mental Well-Being Among Left-Behind Children: Dose Gender Make a Difference?

This study explores how resilience mediates the association between peer victimization and mental well-being among left-behind children in the Chinese cultural context, and how gender groups differ in certain path. Data are collected from a random sample of 471 left-behind children from the City of Huai'an in mainland China. Results of this study shows that peer victimization is not only significantly and directly related, but also indirectly associated with children mental well-being through the intermediary mechanism of resilience. The theoretical model is applicable to both male and female left-behind children with no gender difference. The findings provide empirical support for the proposed theoretical framework that resilience plays a crucial mediator in the relationship between peer victimization and children mental well-being. Empirical evidence also shows that interventions focused on anti-bullying and cultivating resilience may be effective to improve children mental well-being.

Depression and Creativity During COVID-19: Psychological Resilience as a Mediator and Deliberate Rumination as a Moderator

Purpose: The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has had a significant impact on people’s lives, has apparently increased the incidence of depression. Although the topic of how depression affects creativity is contested, previous research has revealed a significant relationship between the two. The purpose of this study is to further investigate the relationship and the mechanisms that operate between depression and creativity.

Methods: A total of 881 students at an independent college in China completed a questionnaire consisting of the Self-Reported Depression Scale, Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, Psychological Resilience Scale, Deliberate Rumination Scale and demographic information. Among the respondents, 317 (36.0%) were male and 564 (64.0%) were female, all of whom were from the same grade. Correlation analyses were conducted, and then the researchers carried out mediation analysis and developed a moderated mediation model.

Results: The results indicated that (a) depression was positively related to creativity (r = 0.085, p < 0.05); (b) psychological resilience mediated the relationship between depression and creativity; specifically, psychological resilience was negatively related to depression (r = −0.462, p < 0.01), which in turn was positively related to creativity (r = 0.198, p < 0.01); and (c) deliberate rumination moderated the relationship between depression and psychological resilience, showing a significant negative correlation with depression (r = 0.138, p < 0.01), psychological resilience (r = 0.078, p < 0.05), and creativity (r = 0.288, p < 0.05); specifically, higher levels of deliberate rumination strengthened the negative correlation between psychological resilience and depression.

Conclusion: The results suggest that depression is a positive predictor of creativity and may promote creativity to some extent. Further, individuals with greater psychological resilience are more creative than those with less psychological resilience, as it is a question of whether they can and to what extent they can effectively use depression as an emotional resource. Last, an individual’s level of deliberate rumination moderates the mediating process, especially at the stage where depression is associated with psychological resilience. These findings advance understanding of the mechanisms that operate between depression and creativity.

Application of responsibility-based nursing in patients with both DM and PTB

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the application value of responsibility-based nursing intervention in the nursing of patients with both diabetes mellitus (DM) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

METHODS

A total of 180 patients with both DM and PTB admitted to our hospital from April 2019 to April 2020 were enrolled as research objects, of which 86 patients were under routine nursing intervention as a regular group (Reg group) and other 94 patients were under responsibility-based nursing intervention as a responsibility group (Res group). The unhealthy emotion, treatment compliance, self-efficacy, self-care ability, and life quality of both groups were evaluated after nursing intervention, and they were compared in blood glucose level and PTB treatment outcome.

RESULTS

After intervention, the Res group got lower self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) scores than the Reg group (both P<0.05). The Res group also got higher scores of self-efficacy, self-care ability, and life quality, and showed significantly higher treatment compliance rate and nursing satisfaction than the Reg group after intervention (all P<0.05). Additionally, after intervention, the Res group got higher scores of life quality than the Reg group (all P<0.05). The levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2 hour postprandial blood glucose (2h PG), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the Res group were lower than those in the Reg group, and the cavity closure rate, sputum negative conversion rate, and focus absorption rate of the Res group were all significantly higher than those of the Reg group (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Responsibility-based nursing intervention can improve the treatment compliance, self-management ability, self-efficacy, and life quality of patients with both DM and PTB.

Comparison of efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative therapies for coronary heart disease complicated with anxiety or depression disorder: A protocol for Bayesian network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

With the acceleration of the pace of life, the phenomenon of anxiety and depression in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) is more and more common, and "psycho-cardiology" arises spontaneously. At present, the drug treatments of psycho-cardiology are difficult to achieve satisfactory results, and the side effects are obvious. Complementary and replacement therapies of CHD complicated with anxiety or depression disorder play an increasingly positive role, but there is a lack of comparison among different complementary and alternative therapies. In this study, Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) analysis method will be used for the first time to synthesize all the evidences of direct and indirect comparison among a variety of interventions, and rank their effectiveness and safety.

METHODS

Two independent researchers will search from the beginning to January 2021 mainly including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and closely related ongoing RCTs of complementary and alternative therapies for CHD complicated with anxiety or depression disorder. And then identify, select and extract the data. The primary outcome measures are frequency of acute attack angina, severity of angina pectoris; the changed score in the validated scales, which can assess severity of anxiety or depression. Secondary outcomes include total efficacy rate, electrocardiogram improvement, traditional Chinese medicine symptoms score, changes of dosage of nitroglycerin and adverse effects. Using softwares WinBUGS 1.4.3 and STATA 16.0 for pairwise meta-analysis and NMA to comprehensively evaluate various interventions. The quality of evidences will be evaluated through the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.

RESULTS

This NMA will comprehensively compare and rank the efficacy and safety of a series of complementary and alternative therapies in the treatment of CHD complicated with anxiety or depression disorder.

CONCLUSION

Supplementary and replacement therapies play an essential role in improving CHD complicated with anxiety or depression disorder. We expect that the NMA will provide reliable evidences of evidence-based medicine for treatment of CHD complicated with anxiety or depression disorder.

PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY202120046.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

This review does not require ethical approval.

The integration of social and neural synchrony: a case for ecologically valid research using MEG neuroimaging

The recent decade has seen a shift from artificial and environmentally deprived experiments in neuroscience to real-life studies on multiple brains in interaction, coordination and synchrony. In these new interpersonal synchrony experiments, there has been a growing trend to employ naturalistic social interactions to evaluate mechanisms underlying synchronous neuronal communication. Here, we emphasize the importance of integrating the assessment of neural synchrony with measurement of nonverbal behavioral synchrony as expressed in various social contexts: relaxed social interactions, planning a joint pleasurable activity, conflict discussion, invocation of trauma, or support giving and assess the integration of neural and behavioral synchrony across developmental stages and psychopathological conditions. We also showcase the advantages of magnetoencephalography neuroimaging as a promising tool for studying interactive neural synchrony and consider the challenge of ecological validity at the expense of experimental rigor. We review recent evidence of rhythmic information flow between brains in interaction and conclude with addressing state-of-the-art developments that may contribute to advance research on brain-to-brain coordination to the next level.

The Effects of Scientific Self-efficacy and Cognitive Anxiety on Science Engagement with the "Question-Observation-Doing-Explanation" Model during School Disruption in COVID-19 Pandemic

Game-based learning supported by mobile intelligence technology has promoted the renewal of teaching and learning models. Herein, a model of Question-Observation-Doing-Explanation (QODE) based on smart phones was constructed and applied to science learning during school disruption in COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, from the theoretical perspective of cognitive-affective theory of learning with media, Bandura's motivation theory and community of inquiry model, self-report measure was used to verify the effect of students' scientific self-efficacy and cognitive anxiety on science engagement. A total of 357 valid questionnaires were used for structural equation model research. The results indicated that two types of scientific self-efficacy, as indicated by scientific learning ability and scientific learning behavior, were negatively associated with cognitive anxiety. In addition, cognitive anxiety was also negatively correlated to four types of science engagement, as indicated by cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral engagement, and social engagement through smartphone interactions. These findings provide further evidence for game-based learning promoted by smart phones, contributing to a deeper understanding of the associations between scientific self-efficacy, cognitive anxiety, and science engagement. This study points out that the QODE model is suitable for implementing smart mobile devices to students' science learning.

Life Events and Adaptive Coping Approaches to Self-Management From the Perspectives of Hospitalized Cardiovascular Patients: A Qualitative Study

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the association between hospitalized cardiovascular patients' life events and adaptive coping approaches to self-management. Methods: The study was a qualitative study that was conducted in a cardiology department of one affiliated university hospital in Hangzhou, China. Twenty-eight participants with cardiovascular diseases were recruited through a purposive sampling procedure. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain insights into adaptive coping approaches to self-management when living with different life events. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed, and the data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Results: Life events reported by hospitalized cardiovascular participants could be summarized in four categories: daily routines, life changes, life-threatening experiences, and emotional sufferings. The adaptive coping approaches were also summarized in four themes: decision-making, avoidance, consistent responses, and episodic responses. Conclusion: This study described essential insights into the mutual influences between various life events and adaptive coping approaches to self-management by a group of hospitalized cardiovascular patients. Participants coped with their problems flexibly by processing comprehensive information from various and unpredictable life events regarding the situations and contexts. While inequity was cumulated, psychological resilience was a vital mediator between stressful events and their responses. The study illuminated the importance of understanding context, situations, and experiences on how cardiovascular patients adapted to their self-management regimens.

The motor-related brain activity that supports joint action: A review

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in research investigating the motor-related brain activity that supports joint action. This research has employed a variety of joint action tasks and an array of neuroimaging techniques, including fMRI, fNIRS, EEG, and TMS. In this review, we provide an overview of this research to delineate what is known about the motor-related brain activity that contributes to joint action and to highlight key questions for future research. Taken together, the surveyed research supports three major conclusions. First, the mere presence of a joint action context is sufficient to modulate motor activity elicited by observing others' actions. Second, joint action is supported by dissociable motor activity associated with a person's own actions, their partner's actions, and the joint action, and by between-brain coupling of motor-related oscillatory activity. Third, the structure of a joint action modulates the motor activity involved: Unique motor activity is associated with performing joint actions comprised of complementary actions and with holding the roles of leader and follower within a joint action. We conclude the review by highlighting overarching themes and key questions for future research.

The Role of Future Time Perspective, Body Awareness, and Social Connectedness in the Relationship Between Self-efficacy and Resilience

Defined as the successful adaptation to dynamic environments, resilience is considered a cornerstone of mental health. However, with the underpinnings of resilience not yet fully understood, this manuscript tests the potential contribution of self-efficacy and embeddedness on resilience (explored through validated measures of future time perspective, body awareness, and social connectedness). The convenience sample of 18-to-77-year-old adults included 297 individuals, of which 36 were men and 171 were female. Participants completed online surveys composed of fifty-two questions in total, measuring self-efficacy, resilience, social connectedness, FTP, and body awareness. Resilience was positively related to self-efficacy, future time perspective, and social connectedness—but not to body awareness—and self-efficacy was positively associated with indices of embeddedness. Considering these correlations, and that only self-efficacy significantly predicted resilience, an exploratory model was proposed to test whether embeddedness directly predicted self-efficacy, and whether self-efficacy directly predicted resilience. Structural Equation Modelling suggested a good fit of this model, elucidating the interplay of psychological mechanisms underlying resilience. Thus, we identify potential variables of interest for clinical interventions aimed at increasing resilience and self-efficacy. Theoretical implications and future research are suggested based on these findings.

"Gut-brain axis": Review of the role of the probiotics in anxiety and depressive disorders

BACKGROUND

Depressive disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide and together with anxiety contribute to a very high burden of disease. Therefore, improving their treatment is a significant medical research target: The role of probiotics is a topic of great interest for the current research in this field.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the current literature about the impact of probiotics on anxious and depressive symptoms.

METHODS

Scoping review following the PRISMA guidelines.

RESULTS

The selection process yielded 23 studies. Probiotics positively affected depressive symptomatology and anxiety symptoms according to 53.83% and 43.75% of the selected studies, respectively. Among the studies assessing inflammatory biomarkers, 58.31% found they were decreased after administration of probiotics.

CONCLUSION

The results emerging from the existing literature about probiotic supplementation for depression treatment are encouraging, but further research is needed considering the shortage of clinical trials on this topic and the heterogeneity of the samples analyzed.

Psychological resilience and related influencing factors in postoperative non-small cell lung cancer patients: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

The psychological resilience of postoperative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is influenced by many factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of psychological resilience and identify its influencing factors in postoperative NSCLC patients.

METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study used a convenience sampling method and recruited 382 inpatients from two Class A hospitals in Hunan, China. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Strategies Used by People to Promote Health (SUPHH), Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used.

RESULTS

Postoperative NSCLC patients' psychological resilience was at a low level, with a score of (57.18 ± 8.55). Stepped Linear Regression showed that the related influencing factors of psychological resilience of postoperative NSCLC patients were age (β = -0.313, P < .001), family average income (β = 0.143, P < .001), self-efficacy (β = 0.416, P < .001), confrontation (β = 0.116, P < .001) and acceptance-resignation (β = -0.155, P < .001), which could explain 58.0% of the total variation in psychological resilience (F = 103.68, P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Psychological resilience is positively predicted by average income, self-efficacy, confrontation, but negatively predicted by age and acceptance-resignation. Self-efficacy is the most important variable influencing psychological resilience in postoperative NSCLC patients. In the future, a series of targeted interventions need to be implemented to strengthen patients' self-efficacy and psychological resilience, which can also improve the quality of life of postoperative NSCLC patients.

Brain-to-Brain Neural Synchrony During Social Interactions: A Systematic Review on Hyperscanning Studies

The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive review on hyperscanning research (measuring brain activity simultaneously from more than two people interacting) using an explicit systematic method, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Data were searched from IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Engineering Village, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Inclusion criteria were journal articles written in English from 2000 to 19 June 2019. A total of 126 empirical studies were screened out to address three specific questions regarding the neuroimaging method, the application domain, and the experiment paradigm. Results showed that the most used neuroimaging method with hyperscanning was magnetoencephalography/electroencephalography (MEG/EEG; 47%), and the least used neuroimaging method was hyper-transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) (1%). Applications in cognition accounted for almost half the studies (48%), while educational applications accounted for less than 5% of the studies. Applications in decision-making tasks were the second most common (26%), shortly followed by applications in motor synchronization (23%). The findings from this systematic review that were based on documented, transparent and reproducible searches should help build cumulative knowledge and guide future research regarding inter-brain neural synchrony during social interactions, that is, hyperscanning research.

Effects of S-1 combined with palliative care on immune function and quality of life of patients with advanced stomach cancer

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of S-1 combined with palliative care (PC) on the immune function and quality of life (QOL) of patients with advanced stomach cancer (ASC). In this prospective study, 168 patients with ASC admitted to our hospital from September 2016 to March 2018 were enrolled as research objects. Seventy-seven cases were treated with S-1 alone (single drug group, SDG), while another 91 cases were treated with S-1 combined with PC (combined drug group, CDG). The effects of the two therapeutic methods on the efficacy [overall response rate (ORR)], 1-year overall survival rate (OSR), safety, negative emotions, nutritional indices, QOL, and immune function indices of patients were analyzed. After treatment, ORR, OSR, levels of nutritional indices [albumin (ALB), prealbumin (PA), and transferrin (TF)], and QOL improvement rate in the CDG were significantly higher than those in the SDG (P<0.05). After treatment, compared with those in the SDG, patients in the CDG had a lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score, Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) score, and number of adverse reactions (P<0.05), and significantly improved immune function indices (CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+) (P<0.05). S-1 combined with PC treatment was superior to S-1 treatment alone in patients with ASC. The patients treated with the combination exhibited improved efficacy (a higher ORR), higher QOL, and improved immune function, and thus this treatment can be clinically popularized.

How mathematics anxiety affects students' inflexible perseverance in mathematics problem-solving: Examining the mediating role of cognitive reflection

BACKGROUND

Too many students persevere in relying upon one (sometimes suboptimal) strategy for solving a wide range of problems, even when they know more efficient strategies. Although many studies have mentioned such phenomena, few studies have examined how emotional factors could affect this type of inflexible perseverance in strategy use.

AIMS

To examine whether mathematics anxiety could affect students' inflexible perseverance in strategy use and whether this effect could be mediated by cognitive reflection, which is the ability to engage in deliberate reasoning.

SAMPLE AND METHOD

In Study 1, 164 undergraduate students' (18-22 years) mathematics anxiety, cognitive reflection, and performance in overcoming inflexible perseverance were measured by a questionnaire battery. Structural equation models were used to examine the correlations between these variables. In Study 2, 98 undergraduate freshmen (17-18 years) were assigned to two groups, where one group's mathematics anxiety was temporarily induced by task instructions, while the other group served as a control group. Cognitive reflection and inflexible perseverance of the two groups were compared.

RESULTS

Study 1 showed that mathematics anxiety was negatively correlated with students' performance on overcoming inflexible perseverance, while cognitive reflection mediated such an effect. Study 2 showed that compared to the control group, the experimental group showed lower cognitive reflection, which led to lower performance in overcoming inflexible perseverance.

CONCLUSIONS

Mathematics anxiety was showed to impair students' ability to engage in deliberate reasoning and was associated with inflexible use of strategies. Alleviating students' mathematics anxiety should be considered when promoting students' strategic flexibility.

Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy among University Students: The Roles of Sports Type and Gender

The present study examines the relationship between drinking behaviour and drinking refusal self-efficacy among university students, with a focus on the influential roles of sports type and gender. A total of 354 students from Seoul National University of Science and Technology volunteered and participated in this study. The Korean Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-K), the Korean Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy (DRSE) Questionnaire-Revised, and a questionnaire measuring participation in sports activities were administered to measure students’ alcohol drinking behaviours, refusal self-efficacy and sport-related activities, respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, two-way ANOVAs, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The subdomains of DRSE had significant influences on binge drinking. Specifically, low DRSE in situations involving social pressure played a key role in predicting increased binge drinking. There was also a significant relationship between sports type and drinking behaviour, but only for male students. Those who participated in individual sports binge drank less than those who participated in team sports. Finally, gender differences were also revealed in drinking behaviour. Male students were more likely to binge drink compared to their female counterparts. This study offers a foundation for practical interventions to help control problematic drinking behaviour among university students.

Using second-person neuroscience to elucidate the mechanisms of social interaction

Although a large proportion of our lives are spent participating in social interactions, the investigation of the neural mechanisms supporting these interactions has largely been restricted to situations of social observation - that is, situations in which an individual observes a social stimulus without opportunity for interaction. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop a truly social, or 'second-person', neuroscientific approach to these investigations in which neural processes are examined within the context of a real-time reciprocal social interaction. These developments have helped to elucidate the behavioural and neural mechanisms of social interactions; however, further theoretical and methodological innovations are still needed. Findings to date suggest that the neural mechanisms supporting social interaction differ from those involved in social observation and highlight a role of the so-called 'mentalizing network' as important in this distinction. Taking social interaction seriously may also be particularly important for the advancement of the neuroscientific study of different psychiatric conditions.

Structural Alterations in Large-scale Brain Networks and Their Relationship with Sleep Disturbances in the Adolescent Population

Although sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in adolescents, neuroimaging evidence on the effects of sleep disturbances on their developing brains remains limited. Therefore, we explored gray matter volumes (GMVs) at the whole-brain level and investigated their relationship to sleep disturbances in a sample of Korean adolescents in the general population. We recruited participants from one middle school and high school. All participants and their legal guardians gave informed consent before participating in our study. We used component 5 of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to measure sleep disturbances and conducted a voxel-based morphometry-DARTEL procedure to measure GMVs. We performed partial correlation analyses to examine whether the GMVs were associated with sleep disturbances. A total of 56 adolescents participated in this study. Our results revealed that GMVs in multiple global regions were negatively correlated with sleep disturbances. Moreover, most of these identified regions belong to large-scale brain networks categorized by functional neuroimaging studies. We found an association between regional GMVs in multiple global regions involved in large-scale networks and the severity of sleep disturbances in the adolescent population. Based on this evidence and previous neuroimaging evidence, we suggest that structural alterations in the networks may be linked to sleep disturbances.

An Exploratory Diagnostic Model for Ordinal Responses with Binary Attributes: Identifiability and Estimation

Diagnostic models (DMs) provide researchers and practitioners with tools to classify respondents into substantively relevant classes. DMs are widely applied to binary response data; however, binary response models are not applicable to the wealth of ordinal data collected by educational, psychological, and behavioral researchers. Prior research developed confirmatory ordinal DMs that require expert knowledge to specify the underlying structure. This paper introduces an exploratory DM for ordinal data. In particular, we present an exploratory ordinal DM, which uses a cumulative probit link along with Bayesian variable selection techniques to uncover the latent structure. Furthermore, we discuss new identifiability conditions for structured multinomial mixture models with binary attributes. We provide evidence of accurate parameter recovery in a Monte Carlo simulation study across moderate to large sample sizes. We apply the model to twelve items from the public-use, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 approaches to learning and self-description questionnaire and report evidence to support a three-attribute solution with eight classes to describe the latent structure underlying the teacher and parent ratings. In short, the developed methodology contributes to the development of ordinal DMs and broadens their applicability to address theoretical and substantive issues more generally across the social sciences.

Prevalence of and risk factors for anxiety after coronary heart disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

As the most important component of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease (CHD) is closely related to psychological factors such as anxiety. Anxiety, whether present before or after the onset of illness, can lead to many serious consequences. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the prevalence of and potential risk factors for anxiety after coronary heart disease (post-CHD anxiety).

METHOD

Systematic searches were performed in electronic databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Technology Journal database (VIP), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Medline.

RESULT

Thirteen studies were included. With regard to cross-sectional studies, the prevalence of post-CHD anxiety was P = .37, 95% CI (0.26-0.49). The overall analysis among cohort studies revealed that the prevalence of post-CHD anxiety was P = .50, 95% CI (0.05-0.95). Among the 11 potential risk factors, low education level [OR = 1.46, 95% CI (1.05-2.02)] and long duration of disease [OR = 2.05, 95% CI (1.05-4.00)] were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

There is high heterogeneity between studies and many defects; thus, further research is required to support these results. Attention should be paid to post-CHD anxiety, and clinical caring should include psychological counselling and imparting disease-related knowledge to patients with a long disease duration and low educational background.

Mouse Microbiota Models: Comparing Germ-Free Mice and Antibiotics Treatment as Tools for Modifying Gut Bacteria

As the intestinal microbiota has become better appreciated as necessary for maintenance of physiologic homeostasis and also as a modulator of disease processes, there has been a corresponding increase in manipulation of the microbiota in mouse models. While germ-free mouse models are generally considered to be the gold standard for studies of the microbiota, many investigators turn to antibiotics treatment models as a rapid, inexpensive, and accessible alternative. Here we describe and compare these two approaches, detailing advantages and disadvantages to both. Further, we detail what is known about the effects of antibiotics treatment on cell populations, cytokines, and organs, and clarify how this compares to germ-free models. Finally, we briefly describe recent findings regarding microbiota regulation of infectious diseases and other immunologic challenges by the microbiota, and highlight important future directions and considerations for the use of antibiotics treatment in manipulation of the microbiota.

Relationship between the social support and self-efficacy for function ability in patients undergoing primary hip replacement

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that nearly 25% of people will suffer from physical disability owing to the bone and joint problems until 2050. The condition of patients with this type of difficulty could be improved by increasing positive self-efficacy and instigating suitable medical treatment to implement self-efficacy for functional ability (SEFA) and physical functional ability self-care. In this study, we aim to evaluate the influence of social support on SEFA in patients after total hip arthroplasty.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used structural questionnaires, telephone appointments, and data collection to obtain patient characteristics, such as gender, age, educational level, and marital status. Questionnaires about social support and self-efficacy for functional ability (SEFA) were sent to 200 patients at 3 months following a primary total hip replacement from September 2011 to December 2014. Factor analysis was used to categorize the dimensions of social support; the t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and correlation analysis were applied to screen factors influencing SEFA. Multiple regression analysis was employed to ascertain the relationships between patient characteristics, social support, and SEFA.

Results

In total, 134 patients responded to the questionnaires. Lower SEFA scores were observed in patients of an older age, unmarried patients, and those with a low level of education. Correlation analysis showed that emotional information and appraisal support, instrumental support, and SEFA were positively correlated. Multiple regression analysis was applied to ascertain the relationships between patient characteristics, social support, and SEFA. We identified significant coefficient values of − 0.187 for age, 5.344 for emotional information and appraisal support, and 1.653 for instrumental support.

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrated that in patients undergoing primary hip replacement, positive impacts on SEFA were observed in relation to emotional information, appraisal support and instrumental support. The results indicated that enhancing emotional information and appraisal support could improve a patient’s self-efficacy for functional ability.