Individual differences and the relationship between education and religiosity in longitudinal versus cross‐sectional studies

Author(s):  
Yoav Ganzach
Author(s):  
Menglin Jiang ◽  
Dandan Gong ◽  
Yu Fan

AbstractElevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels may increase the risk of prehypertension. However, the findings from these studies remain conflicting. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between SUA levels and risk of prehypertension by conducting a meta-analysis. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, and the Wangfang database without language restrictions through May 2015. Observational studies assessing the relationship between SUA levels and prevalence of prehypertension were included. Pooled adjust odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of prehypertension were calculated for the highest vs. lowest SUA levels. Prehypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ranging from 120 to 139 mmHg or diastolic BP ranging from 80 to 89 mmHg. Eight cross-sectional studies with a total of 21,832 prehypertensive individuals were included. Meta-analysis showed that elevated SUA levels were associated with increased risk of prehypertension (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.42–2.38) comparing the highest vs. lowest level of SUA levels. Subgroup analyses showed that elevated SUA levels significantly increased the risk of prehypertension among men (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.12–2.21) and women (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.17–2.16). Elevated SUA levels are positively associated with the risk of prehypertension in the general population. However, more well-designed longitudinal studies are needed before a definitive conclusion can be drawn due to the cross-sectional studies included are susceptible to bias.


2013 ◽  
Vol 202 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. S. Anglin ◽  
Zainab Samaan ◽  
Stephen D. Walter ◽  
Sarah D. McDonald

BackgroundThere is conflicting evidence about the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and depression, and a systematic assessment of the literature has not been available.AimsTo determine the relationship, if any, between vitamin D deficiency and depression.MethodA systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomised controlled trials was conducted.ResultsOne case-control study, ten cross-sectional studies and three cohort studies with a total of 31 424 participants were analysed. Lower vitamin D levels were found in people with depression compared with controls (SMD = 0.60,95% Cl 0.23–0.97) and there was an increased odds ratio of depression for the lowest v. highest vitamin D categories in the cross-sectional studies (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.0–1.71). The cohort studies showed a significantly increased hazard ratio of depression for the lowest v. highest vitamin D categories (HR=2.21, 95% CI 1.40–3.49).ConclusionsOur analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that low vitamin D concentration is associated with depression, and highlight the need for randomised controlled trials of vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of depression to determine whether this association is causal.


Author(s):  
Michelle F. Wright

The first objective of the present study was to describe the nature of cyber aggression and victimization among emerging adults by focusing on what digital technologies are used and the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The second objective of the present study was to investigate the longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between cyber victimization, cyber aggression, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-harm, depression, loneliness, anxiety, and grade point average among emerging adults over four years, using cross-lagged modeling. The findings of the study were consistent with cross-sectional studies, with the present study revealing longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between cyber aggression, cyber victimizations, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-harm, depression, anxiety, and GPA over four years. Additional research attention should be given to understanding more about these associations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3471-3491
Author(s):  
Anthony E. Coy ◽  
Jody L. Davis ◽  
Jeffrey D. Green ◽  
Paul E. Etcheverry

A dyadic approach to studying relationship dynamics yields considerably more insights than examining each partner separately. Yet relatively little research has examined dyadic models of commitment, despite commitment being essential to relationship persistence. Accordingly, we tested a dyadic version of the investment model of commitment. In two cross-sectional studies of couples and one experiment, we tested the role of partner investments and perceived partner investments as novel antecedents of commitment. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that greater partner investments were related to greater levels of individuals’ commitment, while controlling for individuals’ own satisfaction with, investments in, and alternatives to the relationship. Study 3 revealed that partner-reported investments predicted commitment independent of perceived partner investments. The findings advance the investment model beyond the individual level, emphasizing the need to examine dyadic elements of relationships.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e018701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Fuentes Pacheco ◽  
Gabriela Carrillo Balam ◽  
Daryll Archibald ◽  
Elizabeth Grant ◽  
Valeria Skafida

IntroductionObesity is a global pandemic that affects all socioeconomic strata, however, the highest figures have been observed in the most disadvantaged social groups. Evidence from the USA and Canada showed that specific urban settings encourage obesogenic behaviour in the population living and/or working there. We aim to examine the evidence on the association between local food environments and obesity in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.MethodsSix databases from 1990 to 2017 will be searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Scopus, The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) and Web of Science. Grey literature will also be sought by searching Opengrey Europe, The Grey Literature Report and relevant government websites. Additional studies will be retrieved from the reference lists of the selected articles. It will include cohort, longitudinal, case study and cross-sectional studies that have assessed the relationship between local food environments and obesity in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand regardless of sex, age and ethnicity of the population. Two researchers will independently select the studies and extract the data. Data items will incorporate: author names, title, study design, year of study, year exposure data collected, country, city, urban/rural, age range, study exclusions, special characteristics of study populations, aims, working definitions of food environments and food outlets, exposure and methods of data collection, outcomes and key findings. A narrative synthesis and a summary of the results will be produced separately for children and adults, according to the type of food exposure–outcome. All the selected studies will be assessed using The Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies.Ethics and disseminationThis study will be based on published literature, and therefore ethical approval has not been sought. Our findings will be presented at relevant national and international scientific conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062110458
Author(s):  
Rachel B. Forsyth

This research examined the relationship between psychological processes that help individuals cope with challenging circumstances and their failure to act to reduce the likelihood and severity of the challenge itself. In two cross-sectional studies of U.S. residents ( N = 621) conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals’ motivated responses to threat predicted their noncompliance with directives prohibiting risky socializing: Those who perceived the disease to be a threat to their health were more likely to engage in risky socializing if they avoided information about the pandemic or they exhibited a dispositional tendency to join with other people when stressed. Several alternative causal sequences can account for these findings, but one suggests that the risky socializing during the COVID-19 pandemic was due, in part, to people’s psychological reaction to threat; as people responded to minimize their distress, they inadvertently increased their risk of contracting the illness.


Author(s):  
Muath Alrashed ◽  
Ali Alqerban

Summary Background Malocclusion is a deviation from an anatomical norm that occurs in various populations. Evidence shows that it has physical and psychological implications as well as an influence on the patient’s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Self-perception of oral health plays an important role in the understanding of malocclusion’s influence on the quality of life. Malocclusion has been reported to impair a patient’s function, appearance, interpersonal relationships and psychological well-being. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate whether adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years with malocclusion are at increased risk for having a high level of OHRQoL compared with those without malocclusion. Search methods The Ovid Medline, Embase and Scopus databases were used to identify studies measuring the association between malocclusion and HRQoL. Selection criteria Only cross-sectional studies were included, and the following inclusion criteria were used: subjects were systemically healthy; data were available for untreated malocclusion and OHRQoL; malocclusion was measured by Dental Aesthetic Index and Index of Orthodontic Treatment Needs; OHRQoL was assessed by Child Perception Questionnaire, Child Oral Health Impact Profile and Child Oral Health Impact Profile; and the paper was published in English. Data collection and analysis Data were extracted by two independent reviewers. The Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS) was used to establish the risk of bias, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence quality assessment tool was used to assess the impact of malocclusion on adolescents across studies. Results The initial search yielded 530 papers. Eleven cross-sectional studies were included in the meta-analyses, and all data describing the relationship between malocclusion and OHRQoL were gathered via a structured questionnaire. Our results showed that malocclusion is linked to decreased OHRQoL in children and adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years in continuously analysed studies. However, in dichotomously analysed studies, it was shown that young people without malocclusion are linked to decreased OHRQoL. Conclusions Adolescents with severe levels of malocclusion might have among the worst levels of OHRQoL. The effects of malocclusion on OHRQoL were influenced by the age of the adolescents as well as by their culture and environment. Registration PROSPERO (CRD42020178657).


Author(s):  
Yun-A Kim ◽  
Yoon Jeong Cho ◽  
Sang Gyu Kwak

The association of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection with functional dyspepsia has been well studied. However, the data on the relationship between H. pylori infection and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are conflicting. This study aims to elucidate the association between H. pylori infection and IBS. PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and SCOPUS databases were searched to identify eligible English articles published up to December 2019. Cross-sectional studies, case–control studies and cohort studies reporting both prevalence of H. pylori infection and IBS were selected for the detailed review. The pooled odds ratio (ORs) and their 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. A total of 7269 individuals in four cross-sectional studies and six case-control studies were included. The prevalence of H. pylori infection ranged from 12.8% to 73.4% in the control group, and 9.7% to 72.1% in the IBS group. The combined OR for H. pylori infection was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.93–1.29, I2: 37.5%). In a subgroup analysis of IBS defined according to Rome criteria, the OR for H. pylori infection was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.93–1.30, I2 = 31.7%). In this meta-analysis, H. pylori infection was not significantly associated with IBS. Well-designed studies are needed to identify the relationship between H. pylori infection and IBS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-395
Author(s):  
Gabriella Óturai ◽  
Thorsten Kolling ◽  
Monika Knopf

Findings from previous cross-sectional studies showed that while toddlers around their first birthday imitate selectively, that is, they systematically omit some kinds of target action steps or they copy only the goal, but not the means of the modeled actions, older toddlers imitate more exactly. The aim of the present article is to provide longitudinal evidence for this developmental trend and to investigate how imitation of different kinds of target action steps contributes to inter-individual differences in overall imitation performance. The present analysis of longitudinal deferred imitation data contrasted toddlers’ imitation of functional and relevant (FURE) versus arbitrary and irrelevant (ARIR) target action steps at the ages of 18 and 24 months. The results show that the difference between the imitation rates of these two kinds of target action steps decreased with age, supporting the developmental trend from selective towards more exact imitation. In addition, findings of the present analyses point to the prominent role of toddlers’ imitation of arbitrary and irrelevant target action steps in shaping inter-individual variability of overall deferred imitation performance.


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