Precarious Job Makes Me Withdraw? The Role of Job Insecurity and Negative Affect

An expanding “gig” economy has changed the nature of employment; thus, researchers have recently focused on exploring the role of job precariousness in the workplace. However, little research attention has been given to understanding why, how and when job precariousness leads to employees’ negative behavioral outcomes in the service-oriented industry. In the current study, we examined job insecurity as a mediator and employees’ negative affect as a moderator in the relationship between job precariousness and employees’ withdrawal behavior. Using a sample of 472 employees working in Chinese hotels, we found that job precariousness is positively related to employees’ withdrawal behavior by increasing their job insecurity. Moreover, this mediating relationship is conditional on the moderator variable of employees’ negative affect for the path from job insecurity to withdrawal behavior. The importance of these findings for understanding the undesirable behavior outcomes of job precariousness is discussed.

Group-based physical activity interventions for postpartum women with children aged 0–5 years old: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background It is estimated that less than one third of women (28%) worldwide, are not sufficiently active, and there is evidence indicating physical activity (PA) participation is lower during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Despite the importance of educating and encouraging postpartum women to engage in PA, existing systematic reviews have only focused on examining the impact of individually tailored PA interventions and on specific postpartum populations such as women who are inactive (i.e., do not meet PA recommendations) or women at risk of gestational diabetes mellitus or postnatal depression. This review aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of group-based PA interventions on postpartum women’s PA levels or other health behavior outcomes. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted using four electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsychInfo) of published studies between 1st January 2000 and 31st October 2020. Studies were included if they targeted postpartum women with no current health conditions, had children aged 0–5 years, and engaged postpartum women in a group-based PA program that reported PA or other health behavior outcomes. Out of a total of 1091 articles that were initially identified, six were included. Results Group-based PA interventions were moderately successful in changing or increasing postpartum women’s self-reported PA levels and psychological wellbeing in the first 2 years of their offspring’s life. Overall, group-based PA interventions were not successful in changing or increasing postpartum women’s objectively measured PA levels, but only one study objectively measured postpartum women’s PA levels. Narrative synthesis highlights the heterogeneity of the outcomes and methodologies used, and the low to medium risk of bias in the included studies. Conclusion To strengthen the evidence-base for group-based PA programs with postpartum women there is an on-going need for more rigorous randomised controlled trials of appropriate length (at least 3 months in duration) with an adequate dose of group-based PA sessions per week (to meet PA guidelines), and that utilise objective measures of PA. In addition, future PA interventions for this population should include, at the very least, fidelity and process data to capture the characteristics or design features that appeal most to postpartum women.

Delay Early CKD with Lifestyle Intervention in African Americans with Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Pre-Post Pilot Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Behavioral factors such as lifestyle have been shown to explain approximately 24% of the excess risk of chronic kidney disease among African Americans. OBJECTIVE The main objective of this study was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention in African Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS A pre-post design was used to test the feasibility of a lifestyle intervention in African American adults recruited from Medical University of South Carolina. Clinical outcomes (hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)) were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Disease knowledge, self-care and behavior outcomes were also measured using validated structured questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention. Descriptive statistics and effect sizes were calculated to determine clinically important changes from baseline. RESULTS Significant pre-post mean differences and decreases were observed for HbA1c (mean 0.75, p=0.01), total cholesterol (mean 16.38, p<0.01), low density lipoprotein (mean 13.73, p<0.01) and eGFR (mean 6.73, p=0.02). Significant pre-post mean differences and increases were observed for CKD self-efficacy (mean -11.15, p=0.03), CKD knowledge (mean -2.62, p<0.01), exercise behavior (mean -1.21, p<0.01) and blood sugar testing (mean -2.15, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS This study provides preliminary data for a large-scale appropriately powered, randomized control trial to examine a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention in African Americans to improve clinical, knowledge and self-care behavior outcomes in this population.

Relationships Between Sensory Processing Behaviors, Executive Function, and Temperament Characteristics for Effortful Control in School-Age Children

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. A descriptive correlation study examined relationships between temperament, effortful control, executive function, and sensory processing behavior. Outcomes from three standardized questionnaires in children between 7.0 and 10.11 years old indicated that statistically significant associations between typical sensory responses were related to abilities for executive function and effortful control, whereas sensory reactivity was related to decreased abilities for executive function and effortful control. Primary Author and Speaker: Rachel Diamant

The role of customer experience in the perceived value–word-of-mouth relationship

Purpose The customer experience (CX), as revealed in the literature-based debate, has been variously viewed as either a driver or an outcome of customer-perceived value (CPV). However, the association of CPV, CX and word-of-mouth (WoM) behavior remains nebulous to date, thereby generating an important research gap. In response and to bridge this gap, this study aims to explore CX’s role in the CPV–WoM behavior relationship, the role of WoM behavior arising from CX and whether CX acts as a core mediator (vs a moderator) in the association of CPV and subsequent consumer-behavior outcomes. Design/methodology/approach By conducting two studies spanning a broad range of services, this paper explores the relationship between CPV, CX, and WoM behavior through structural equation modeling. Findings The findings are that CX plays a crucial role in the CPV–WoM relationship, thereby confirming the existence of a direct link between CPV (social/hedonic/utilitarian value), CX and WoM. The results also highlight CX’s mediating role in the relationship between social and utilitarian (but not hedonic) values. Moreover, the results reveal that the EXQ scale, measuring CX, comprises distinct experiences perceived by high and low CX-based customer segments, respectively. Practical implications CPV (utilitarian, hedonic, social) not only affects consumers’ behavioral intentions but also, more importantly, their WoM behavior. Therefore, managers need to consider all three values. Moreover, managers should shift their focus from social value perceptions to CX. The results suggest that managers need to devote additional resources to the development of a suitable CX, which will help mitigate consumers’ online and/or offline brand-related WoM. This study indicates the context in which managers must emphasize the construct that produces positive outcomes. Originality/value By identifying a direct relationship between CPV, CX and the ensuing consumer-behavior outcomes, the study offers important theoretical insight into CX’s nomological network.

An epistemic approach to explaining cooperation in the finitely repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma

We use epistemic game theory to explore rationales behind cooperative behaviors in the finitely repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma. For a class of type structures that are sufficiently rich, the set of outcomes that can arise when each player i is rational and satisfies $$(m_i-1)$$ ( m i - 1 ) th order strong belief of rationality is the set of paths on which each player i defects in the last $$m_i$$ m i rounds. We construct one sufficiently rich type structure to elaborate on how different patterns of cooperative behaviors arise under sufficiently weak epistemic conditions. In this type structure, the optimality of forgiving the opponent’s past defection and the belief that one’s defection will be forgiven account for the richness of the set of behavior outcomes.

Genetic underpinnings of sociability in the general population

Levels of sociability are continuously distributed in the general population, and decreased sociability represents an early manifestation of several brain disorders. Here, we investigated the genetic underpinnings of sociability in the population. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a sociability score based on four social functioning-related self-report questions from 342,461 adults in the UK Biobank. Subsequently we performed gene-wide and functional follow-up analyses. Robustness analyses were performed in the form of GWAS split-half validation analyses, as well as analyses excluding neuropsychiatric cases. Using genetic correlation analyses as well as polygenic risk score analyses we investigated genetic links of our sociability score to brain disorders and social behavior outcomes. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia had a lower sociability score. The score was significantly heritable (SNP h2 of 6%). We identified 18 independent loci and 56 gene-wide significant genes, including genes like ARNTL, DRD2, and ELAVL2. Many associated variants are thought to have deleterious effects on gene products and our results were robust. The sociability score showed negative genetic correlations with autism spectrum, disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and two sociability-related traits—loneliness and social anxiety—but not with bipolar disorder or Alzheimer’s disease. Polygenic risk scores of our sociability GWAS were associated with social behavior outcomes within individuals with bipolar disorder and with major depressive disorder. Variation in population sociability scores has a genetic component, which is relevant to several psychiatric disorders. Our findings provide clues towards biological pathways underlying sociability.

Repeated School Suspensions: Who Receives Them, What Reasons Are Given, and How Students Fare

Although out-of-school school suspensions have been correlated with negative school outcomes, they are still a common formal response given to students whose behavior is deemed problematic. Being suspended multiple times within an academic year results in students losing even more instructional time. In this study, we used longitudinal data for students from elementary to high school to examine: (a) demographic characteristics of students who received repeated out-of-school suspensions across six consecutive years, (b) common infractions that resulted in those school suspensions, and (c) the relationship between repeated suspensions and students’ later academic and behavior outcomes. We found that a high number of male and Black students, as well as students with disabilities, received repeated suspensions with minor infractions reported as the most common reasons. Regression analyses revealed a significant and negative relationship between repeated suspensions in the early grades and the number of suspensions students received in secondary school.