Mediated effects of insomnia in the association between problematic social media use and subjective well-being among university students during COVID-19 pandemic

Recently, the use of social media has penetrated many aspects of our daily lives. Therefore, it has stimulated much debate and polarisation regarding its impact on mental well-being. The present study investigated the association between problematic use of social media, subjective well-being, and insomnia's potential mediator. A proportionate random sample was collected from a Univerity in Algeria between March and April 2020.The participants (n=288; mean [SD] age = 20.83 [2.13]) involved 101 (35.1%) males. Nearly three-fourths of the participants (n=214; 74.3%) used up more-than three hours daily surfing on social media. Their mean (SD) score was 15.64 (4.80) on the Bergan Social Media Addiction Scale, 16.19 (9.15) on the Arabic Scale of Insomnia, and 28.13 (7.90) on the overall subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed an indirect correlation between problematic use of social media and the overall subjective well-being of users. Similarly, the indirect but not direct effects were found for the overall subjective well-being subdomains. Moreover, all SEM models have a satisfactory fit with the data. Based on the results, it can be concluded that insomnia appears to play an important role in mediating the association between subjective well-being and problematic social media use. This suggests the importance of tackling the issues of insomnia and problematic use of social media for university students. It also has important implications in dealing with the misuse of social media, especially during the covid-19 pandemic.

Social Network Structure and Social Support in HIV-Positive Inner City Mothers

It has been documented that social support influences health outcomes of persons with chronic illnesses. The incidence of HIV and AIDS among minority women is growing at an alarming rate, but little is known about social support in this vulnerable population, and even less is known about the social network conveying that support. Guided by the convoy of social networks model, this study describes the social networks in a sample of HIV-positive, urban-dwelling mothers (N = 147) by stage of disease (i.e., asymptomatic, symptomatic, AIDS) and examines relationships between social network structure and social support. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that women's social networks were disproportionately populated by children, and network members of women with AIDS were significantly older than network members of HIV-positive women with or without symptoms. Profile analyses showed that women's perceptions of the quality of social support differed according to the proportion of family members populating different segments of the social network.

An Investigation of Differential Relationships of Implicit and Explicit Aggression: Validation of an Arabic Version of the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression

Most personality research in the workplace relies on self-reports. Although self-report measures are believed to assess the explicit aspect of personality, a more recent approach for assessing implicit personality is based on conditional reasoning. The Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A) was developed to assess implicit cognitions that justify aggressive behavior. The integrative model of personality proposes that both the explicit and implicit personality interact together to predict different behavioral outcomes. The results of this investigation are reported in two studies. The purpose of Study 1 was to adapt the CRT-A to the Arabic language and to examine its validity evidence using a large sample of Egyptian employees (n = 1,046). Study 2 aimed at examining the differential relationships of implicit and explicit components of aggressive personality in explaining different forms of aggressive behavior variance (n = 271). The results of Study 1 revealed that the psychometric properties of the adapted Arabic version of CRT-A were similar to those obtained for the United States. In addition, factor analysis results were consistent with the psychological theory used to build the conditional reasoning problems. The results of Study 2 provide substantial empirical support for the integrative model of assessment of aggression.

Factorial Structure and Predictive Validity of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) in Egypt: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach

Introduction. The purpose of this study is double. First, to evaluate the factorial structure of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) as a measure of approaches to learning with bilingual Egyptian higher education students by testing the plausibility of reproducing its intended three-factor structure. Second, the study aimed at testing the predictive validity of ASSIST.Method. The sample of the study consisted of (n=516) college students from one international university in Egypt. To cross-validate the factor structure, the subjects were divided into two equal samples. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the structure of ASSIST.Results. The findings of this study confirmed the underlying constructs of three distinctive approaches to learning. ASSIST main scales and subscales’ scores showed appropriate internal consistency and predictive validity to academic achievement.Conclusion. It was concluded that ASSIST is a valid research tool for the assessment of approaches to learning, however caution should be taken with respect to the interpretation of particular subscales and possible sample effects.

Study of Gene Expression of Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) in Breast Cancer Patients

Introduction:

Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer among females and the second most common cancer overall. Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) plays an important role in blocking ‘cancer-immunity cycle’ and is considered as a major inhibitory pathway. The aim of the present study was to clarify the alterations of expression of PD-L1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cytes (PBMCs) of female breast cancer patients and analyze its association with clinico-pathological criteria as well as therapeutic response.

Materials and Methods:

The study was conducted on 45 female breast cancer patients and 45 female controls. Blood samples were collected followed by PBMCs isolation, total RNA extraction, reverse transcription and finally, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using SYBR Green DNA binding dye. Expression levels of PD-L1 were calculated and then compared with clinicopathological parameters of the patients in addition to initial therapeutic response.

Results:

A significant difference was detected for PD-L1 expression levels in breast cancer patients compared to controls. A significant association with age, metastatic breast cancer, estrogen receptor (ER) negative status as well as high concentrations of cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) was detected. On the other hand, no significant association was recognized with tumor size, lymph nodal status, histopathological type, grade, progesterone receptor (PR) status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status, triple negative, among de novo and recurrent metastatic patients and for the number of metastatic sites as well as the therapeutic response.

Conclusions:

This study paves the way of the use of PD-L1 as a noninvasive prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for poor prognosis of breast cancer.

The International Work Addiction Scale (IWAS): A screening tool for clinical and organizational applications validated in 85 cultures from six continents

Background and aims

Despite the last decade's significant development in the scientific study of work addiction/workaholism, this area of research is still facing a fundamental challenge, namely the need for a valid and reliable measurement tool that shows cross-cultural invariance and, as such, allows for worldwide studies on this phenomenon.

Methods

An initial 16-item questionnaire, developed within an addiction framework, was administered alongside job stress, job satisfaction, and self-esteem measures in a total sample of 31,352 employees from six continents and 85 cultures (63.5% females, mean age of 39.24 years).

Results

Based on theoretical premises and psychometric testing, the International Work Addiction Scale (IWAS) was developed as a short measure representing essential features of work addiction. The seven-item version (IWAS-7), covering all seven components of work addiction, showed partial scalar invariance across 81 cultures, while the five-item version (IWAS-5) showed it across all 85 cultures. Higher levels of work addiction on both versions were associated with higher job stress, lower job satisfaction, and lower self-esteem across cultures. The optimal cut-offs for the IWAS-7 (24 points) and IWAS-5 (18 points) were established with an overall accuracy of 96% for both versions.

Discussion and conclusions

The IWAS is a valid, reliable, and short screening scale that can be used in different cultures and languages, providing comparative and generalizable results. The scale can be used globally in clinical and organizational settings, with the IWAS-5 being recommended for most practical and clinical situations. This is the first study to provide data supporting the hypothesis that work addiction is a universal phenomenon worldwide.

Emotions as social information in unambiguous situations: role of emotions on procedural justice perception

Emotion as Social Information Theory claims that in an ambiguous situation, people rely on others' emotions to make sense of the level of fairness encountered. We tested whether the information provided by emotions about the fairness of a procedure is still a significant factor in explaining individual differences in perception of variance, even in unambiguous situations. We assessed the effects of others' emotions on observers inferred procedural justice during (un)ambiguous situations when people are treated (un)fairly. We collected data using Qualtrics online survey software from 1012 employees across different industry services in the United States. The participants were assigned randomly to one of the 12 experimental conditions (fair, unfair, and unknown x happiness, anger, guilt, and neutral). The results indicated that emotions played a significant role in the psychology of justice judgments under the ambiguous situation, as predicted by the EASI, as well as under unambiguous conditions. The study revealed significant interactions between the procedure and emotion. These findings emphasized the importance of considering how others' emotions influence an observer's perception of justice. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings were also discussed.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04640-y.