Initial Mix-and-Match COVID-19 Vaccination Perceptions, Concerns, and Side Effects across Canadians

Research indicates that mixing the first two doses of COVID-19 vaccine types (i.e., adenoviral vector and mRNA) produces potent immune responses against the coronavirus, but it is unclear how individuals may perceive these benefits, or whether there are different concerns compared to individuals who received two doses of the same vaccine. This research examines the demographic characteristics, psychological perceptions, and vaccination-related opinions and experiences of a large Canadian sample (N = 1002) who had received two initial doses of any COVID-19 vaccine combination. Participants included 791 (78.9%) who received two doses of the exact same brand and type of vaccine, 164 (16.4%) who received two doses of the same type of vaccine (i.e., either mRNA or adenoviral vector) but from different brands (e.g., Pfizer-BioNTech + Moderna), and 47 (4.7%) who received two doses from different types and brands of vaccine (e.g., Oxford-AstraZeneca + Pfizer-BioNTech). Results showed that, after the first vaccine dose, participants who received an adenoviral vector vaccine (e.g., Oxford-AstraZeneca) experienced the highest number of common side effects, and more severe levels of each side effect compared to those who received an mRNA vaccine (e.g., Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna). After the second dose, participants who received Moderna as their second vaccine experienced the highest number of and most severe side effects, regardless of whether they received Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Oxford-AstraZeneca as their first dose. Real-world implications of these findings are discussed.

Wii or Kinect? A Pilot Study of the Exergame Effects on Older Adults’ Physical Fitness and Psychological Perception

Exergames are now often implemented among older adults for health purposes. This study aimed to investigate whether playing Kinect and Wii exergames has effects on older adults’ physical fitness and psychological perceptions towards exergames. A total of 23 older participants aged above 60 years were recruited and randomly assigned into two groups, in which they played either Kinect or Wii Bowling exergames for three sessions in one week. Physiological and psychological measures were collected including heart rate, blood pressure, shoulder flexibility, as well as perceived benefits and intentions for future use. Findings indicated that exergames are equivalent to light-intensity exercises, and hence pose no or minimal risk to older adults. Older adults had a positive attitude towards exergames and have a strong willingness to engage in exergaming on a regular basis. Although no significant platform difference was identified, observation and qualitative findings suggested that Wii might provide a more intense physical activity than Kinect, while Kinect might obtain a higher perception among older adults than Wii. The study has several practical implications for both health professionals and exergame designers targeting the ageing population.

Analysis of Experiences and Psychological Perceptions of Recovered COVID-19 Patients

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the experiences and psychological perceptions of recovered COVID-19 patients. Methods: This research was conducted using qualitative approach of phenomenology type. The population of this study included the patients recovered from Corona virus in Tehran province. Sampling was performed purposefully. The research was conducted through semi-structured interviews. Collaizi’s seven-step method was applied for analyzing the data. Findings: After coding the interviews and categorizing the topics, the following nine main themes were obtained: initial reaction of loneliness and the need for receiving compassion, negative consequences, proximity to death and the reaction of individuals toward it, effective coping activities, mutual transmission of mental status of the patient, caregivers and medical staff, the effect of illness on meaning and style of life, preoccupation with duties and responsibilities. Conclusion: The present study showed that the experiences of Covid-19 patients have similarities and differences and being ware of these experiences may help the experts and policymakers to prevent the psychological crisis in the post-corona period and prepare the people psychologically in the society to face the epidemics.

Children should be seen and also heard: an explorative qualitative study into the influences on children’s choice of footwear, their perception of comfort and the language they use to describe footwear experiences

Background Footwear has an essential role including protection of the feet, overall performance, foot health and potentially, supporting normal development of the foot. In addition to these physical aspects which may influence choice of footwear design, there are psychological influences on what a person chooses to wear. The concept of footwear ‘comfort’ spans physical and psychological perceptions of comfort in adults. However, there is little understanding of what influences children’s footwear choices, how children perceive footwear comfort, or the language used to describe footwear experiences. Therefore, this study aimed to explore these three parameters as the first step to informing the development of a scale to measure footwear comfort in children. Methods A pragmatic qualitative design with thematic analysis as an analytical approach was implemented. Passive observation and short interviews were carried out with 23 children (aged 1–12 years) at a footwear manufactures headquarters and store. Prompts included shoes being tried on and field-notes were taken relating to verbal and non-verbal communication. Field notes were coded then themes were identified, reviewed and named. Results Overall, the children equated comfort to softness. However, influences on footwear choice were multidimensional including aesthetics, psychosocial influences, identified ‘comfort’ and ‘discomfort’ areas, practical issues and predictive concerns; all interacting with the age of the child. Conclusions For children, footwear comfort is a complex phenomenon having physical, cognitive, social and emotional developmental components. This can be seen in how the children perceive the ‘feel’ of the shoe and how the shoe is assessed in the context of how the shoe meets the child’s physical and psychosocial developmental needs. In younger children footwear preference is related to idiosyncratic tastes in aesthetics, physical ability and comfort. As children age, societal influences begin to expand the social function of footwear denoting group membership, to include themes that transcend the functional and social function of footwear. The knowledge from this study can inform the development of age group specific tools to evaluate comfort.

A Psychological Perception Mechanism and Factor Analysis in Landsenses Ecology: A Case Study of Low-Carbon Harmonious Discourse

Landsenses ecology has been widely applied in research into sustainable consciousness and behavior and the notion of landsense creation realizes the unity of the macro physical senses and micro psychological perceptions. At present, however, a great deal of current research about landsenses ecology has concentrated on the dimension of the physical senses, while there have been relatively few studies on the dimension of its psychological perception. This paper begins by clarifying the concept of self and explaining out that the psychological perception mechanism of landsense creation represents a process of guiding people to know themselves and realize their ecological self. It then utilizes the example of low-carbon discourse to explore the factors contributing to the resonance of ecological self-vision. Our results show that the perceived self-efficacy, environmental concern and environmental knowledge triggered by ecological discourse are the main factors contributing to the resonance of sustainable vision, thus clarifying the indicators of landsenses ecology at the level of psychological perception. Our purpose is to effectively guide the landsense creation of harmonious discourse and promote people to engage in potentially more sustainable behavior.

CPT-MABAC method for spherical fuzzy multiple attribute group decision making and its application to green supplier selection

The green supplier selection is one of the popular multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems. The spherical fuzzy sets (SFSs) can fully express the complexity and fuzziness of evaluation information for green supplier selection. Furthermore, the classic MABAC (multi-attributive border approximation area comparison) method based on the cumulative prospect theory (CPT-MABAC) is designed, which is an optional method in reflecting the psychological perceptions of decision makers (DMs). Therefore, in this article, we propose a spherical fuzzy CPT-MABAC (SF-CPT-MABAC) method for MAGDM issues. Meanwhile, considering the different preferences of DMs to attribute sets, we obtain the objective weights of attributes through entropy method. Focusing on the current popular problems, this paper applies the proposed method for green supplier selection and proves for green supplier selection based on SF-CPT-MABAC method. Finally, by comparing existing methods, the effectiveness of the proposed method is certified.