A Survey of Students’ Attitudes to Big Data Analysis in Iranian Universities

Introduction: Today, with the emergence of new technologies and massive data, big data analysis has attracted the attention of researchers, industries and universities on a global scale. The present research aims to explore students’ attitude to big data analysis in different fields of study. Methodology: The present cross-sectional study was conducted with students at different universities and fields of study in Iran. A questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire explored students’ attitude toward big data analysis. To this aim, 359 university students participated in the research. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The age of the students ranged between 25 and 34 years. 55.2% were female and 54% were economically active. 40.9% had a work experience of less than a year. The academic degree of the majority of participants was master’s degree. 93.9% of the participants believed that big data analysis was essential for the country. 43.2% maintained that big data mostly belonged to the communication industry. 28.1% perceived MATLAB useful software for analysis. 40.9% were familiar with the benefits of analysis. Engage in economic activities, less than 1 year of experience and studies for a Master’s degree showed to be significantly correlated with familiarity with the benefits of big data (p=0.01). Such issues as high costs, managers’ unfamiliarity and lack of expertise and complexity were raised by the respondents.

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Palestinian Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic became a global pandemic in early 2020. The pandemic has many impacts on people’s live posing a threat to their physical and mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Palestinian nursing students residing in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 345 nursing students from the Islamic University of Gaza completed on line questionnaire packet that included demographic data and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Results: Results from this study revealed that most of our participants were females (79.1%), single (82.3%), not working (90.4%) and having no chronic disease (94.8%). Variant levels of anxiety were reported by participants with 34.5% of them having mild, 31% moderate and 19.1% severe levels of anxiety. Levels of anxiety reported in this study were not impact by any study variables such as age, sex, study year, etc. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The results of this study revealed high levels of anxiety among nursing students. The closure of the universities, the new experience of e-learning along with the multi-stressors already prevailing in the Gaza Strip have contributed to this high level of anxiety. Universities and the health care system in the Gaza Strip should pay attention to reduce anxiety levels among students. This could be approached by providing online training courses or setting channels of one-to-one online or phone counseling for students to alleviate negative psychological effects and to enhance mental health of students.

Childhood Trauma as a Risk Factor of Adult Fear of Birth and the Preference of a Caesarean Section

Background: Tokophobia (TP) is linked to negative affect, posttraumatic distress and the request for Caesarean Section. Prior trauma and some corresponding personality features, including typical of borderline personality, contribute to TP. With the conflictual object of this fear being a relational one, TP is amenable to psychodynamic heuristics. We investigate Childhood Trauma (CHT), emotional distress, dissociation and borderline personality organization (BPO) along with TP and the request for Caesarean Section in 153 pregnant women, based on the assumption that CS and TP represent the two sides of the same coin, and that their relationship would be rooted in correlates of trauma such as dissociation or BPO. Method: We used the WIJMA questionnaire, the dissociative experience scale, the childhood trauma screener, the IPO-16, and the BSI-18, as well as Kendall´s tau, linear regression and a mediation analysis. Result: The wish for CS was associated with TP and occurred in 6.3% of the sample. Correlations showed between TP and BPO, emotional distress and CHT. Linear regression revealed the prediction of TP by CHT, and the effect of CHT on the wish for CS was fully mediated by TP. Ambivalence regarding the preferred mode of birth coincided with the greatest emotional distress including TP. Dissociation did not contribute to TP. Discussion: CHT may be a cornerstone of the psychodynamics leading to the preference of CS over natural birth. TP mediates the respective effects on the wish for CS and may reproduce the ambivalence of childhood experiences of interpersonal adversity.

Depression, Suicidal Ideation and the Big Five Personality Traits

Aim: This study explored the association of the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) with current depression and a history of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Methods: A sample of 115 undergraduate students in the United States was administered measures of the Beck Depression Inventory, and the 15-item Big Five personality Inventory. The students were also asked whether they had ever thought about suicide in the past and whether they had ever-attempted suicide in the past. Results: Four of the Big Five personality trait scores (conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) were associated with depression scores, accounting for 36% of the variance in depression scores. Among the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism was positively associated with depression, while conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were negatively associated with depression. Conclusions: The Big Five personality traits scores did not predict a history of suicide attempts in the sample of American students, but neuroticism scores were associated with a history of suicidal ideation.

The Hysteroid and Obsessoid Personalities, Depression and Suicidality

This study was designed to explore the associations between scores on the hysteroid/obsessoid personality scale, depression scores, and suicidal behavior. In a study of 101 undergraduate students, using the Hysteroid/ Obsessoid Questionnaire (HQQ) and the short form of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13), hysteroid-obsessiod personality scores were negatively associated with depression scores but not with a history of suicidal ideation or attempts. It is suggested that separate measures of the hysteroid and obsessive personalities may be more useful for predicting depression and suicidality.