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Purpose: Informal caregivers may be at high risk for psychotic experiences (PE) due to caregiving related stress, sleep issues, or other potential mechanisms, but this has not been previously investigated in the general adult population. Thus, we examined the association between caregiving and PE, and its mediators, in a large sample of adults from 48 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: Cross-sectional, community-based data from the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Survey were analyzed. Informal caregivers referred to those who provided help to a relative or friend (adult or child) in the past year, because this person has a long-term physical or mental illness or disability, or is getting old and weak. PE were assessed using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview psychosis screen. Multivariable logistic regression and mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Data on 224,842 individuals were analyzed. The mean (SD) age was 38.3 (16.0) years (range 18–120 years) and 50.7% were females. After adjustment for age, sex, and country, in the overall sample, caregiving was associated with 1.67 (95%CI = 1.56–1.79) times higher odds for PE. Sleep/energy explained the largest proportion of the association between caregiving and PE (13.9%), followed by pain/discomfort (11.5%), perceived stress (7.6%), depression (6.2%), and cognition (3.5%). Conclusion: Caregivers in LMICs are at higher risk of PE. Future studies are warranted to gain a further understanding of the underlying mechanisms, and to assess whether addressing the identified mediators can lead to lower risk for PE among caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the relationship between sarcopenia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).Objective: This study aimed to investigate this association among community-dwelling adults aged≥65 years from six LMICs.Methods: Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) were analyzed. These data were obtained in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa in 2007-2010. Participants were considered to have sarcopenia if they had low skeletal muscle mass (i.e., lower skeletal mass index) and a weak handgrip strength. MCI was defined using the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association criteria. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations.Results: The final analytical sample consisted of 12,912 individuals aged≥65 years with preservation in functional abilities without stroke (mean [standard deviation] age 72.2 [10.8] years; 45.2% males). The overall prevalence of sarcopenia and MCI were 11.3% and 18.1%, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was a positive association between sarcopenia and MCI in all countries (i.e., odds ratio [OR] > 1) with the exception of South Africa, and the overall estimate was OR = 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32-1.93) with a low level of between-country heterogeneity (I2 = 0.0%).Conclusion: There was a positive association between sarcopenia and MCI in this sample of older adults living in LMICs. Causality should be assessed in future longitudinal research, while the utility of sarcopenia as a marker of MCI should also be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on the association between multimorbidity and subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) are lacking from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).Objective: To assess the association between multimorbidity and SCC among adults from 48 LMICs.Methods: Cross-sectional, community-based data were analyzed from the World Health Survey 2002-2004. Ten chronic conditions (angina, arthritis, asthma, chronic back pain, depression, diabetes, edentulism, hearing problems, tuberculosis, visual impairment) were assessed. Two questions on subjective memory and learning complaints in the past 30 days were used to create a SCC scale ranging from 0 (No SCC) to 100 (worse SCC). Multivariable linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted to explore the associations.Results: A total of 224,842 individuals aged≥18 years [mean (SD) age 38.3 (16.0) years; 49.3% males] constituted the final sample. Compared to no chronic conditions, the mean SCC score was higher by 7.13 (95% CI = 6.57-7.69), 14.84 (95% CI = 13.91-15.77), 21.10 (95% CI = 19.49-22.70), 27.48 (95% CI = 25.20-29.76), and 33.99 (95% CI = 31.45-36.53) points for 1, 2, 3, 4, and≥5 chronic conditions. Estimates by sex and age groups (18-44, 45-64,≥65 years) were similar. Nearly 30% of the association between multimorbidity (i.e.,≥2 chronic conditions) and SCC was explained by psychological factors (i.e., perceived stress, sleep problems, anxiety symptoms).Conclusion: Multimorbidity is associated with SCC among adults in LMICs. Future studies should investigate whether addressing psychological factors in people with multimorbidity can improve cognitive function, and whether screening for SCC in individuals with multimorbidity can be a useful tool to identify individuals at particularly high risk for future cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Data on 6862 individuals aged ≥50 years from Ireland were analyzed. • Falls at baseline increased risk for anxiety and depression symptoms at follow-up. • Injurious falls were a significant predictor of incident depression but not anxiety. Little is known about the potential impact of falls on the onset of common mental disorders in older adults. Thus, we aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between falls and incident anxiety and depressive symptoms in adults aged ≥50 years living in Ireland. Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing were analyzed (Wave 1: 2009–2011; and Wave 2: 2012–2013). The presence of falls and injurious falls in the past 12 months was assessed at Wave 1. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed at Wave 1 and Wave 2 using the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A) and the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D), respectively. Covariates included sex, age, education, marital status, disability, and the number of chronic physical conditions. The association of falls at baseline with incident anxiety and depressive symptoms at follow-up was estimated by multivariable logistic regression. This study included 6,862 individuals (51.5% women; mean [SD] age 63.1 [8.9] years). After adjusting for covariates, falls were significantly associated with anxiety (OR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.06–2.35) and depressive symptoms (OR = 1.43, 95%CI = 1.06–1.92). These associations were no longer significant after including fear of falling in the models. Similar findings were obtained for injurious falls, although the relationship with anxiety symptoms was not statistically significant. This prospective study of older adults from Ireland found significant associations between falls and incident anxiety and depressive symptoms. Future research may focus on whether interventions to reduce fear of falling could also alleviate anxiety and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood financial hardship is associated with depression throughout the life course, including older adulthood. However, it is still unclear the extent to which occupation, education level and household income are mediators of this association. We aimed to examine the association between childhood financial hardship and late-life depression, and potential socioeconomic mediators using community-based data. A nationally representative sample of 3623 non-institutionalized older Spanish adults aged 50+ was used. The associations between childhood financial hardship and depression, socioeconomic mediator variables and confounding variables such as chronic physical conditions, number of close people, and loneliness, were assessed through logistic regression models. Mediation analyses of socioeconomic variables were carried out. Older Spanish adults who experienced a poor childhood financial situation were nine times more likely to obtain a lower level of education than those with a good childhood financial situation, and about three times more likely to suffer from depression. Participants' education level mediated about 35–40% of the association between childhood financial hardship and late-life depression whereas we found no significant mediation effect of household income and occupation skill. Improving access to the educational system during the life course might result in a reduction in the prevalence of depression in the general population of older adults and particularly among individuals with low socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sex differences on the WISC-III are reported for the thirteen subtests, the Verbal and Performance IQs, the four Index IQs and the Full Scale IQs in Sudan and the United States. The sex differences are closely similar in the two samples with a correlation of 0.878 (p<0.001) for the thirteen subtests. Males obtained significantly higher Full Scale IQs in the two samples of 0.23d and 0.11d, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the relationship between religious orientation and spiritual intelligence. Specifically, we examined differences in spiritual intelligence by grade, type of school, and student achievement level. Participants were 142 students in the 7th and 10th grades, who were randomly selected from Al-Taif schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For data collection, we used Al-Ruwaitea's Religious Orientation Scale with its 4 dimensions of religiousness: personal extrinsic, social extrinsic, intrinsic, and quest, and we also developed a scale of spiritual intelligence (SI) for use in this study. Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences in SI by type of school, in favor of religious schools. There was no difference in SI by grade. Multiple regression analysis results showed that extrinsic socially oriented religiousness was the only religious orientation that was a significant predictor of SI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the frequency and indices of smartphone addiction in a group of King Saud University students and investigated whether there were differences in smartphone addiction based on gender, social status, educational level, monthly income and hours of daily use. We developed a questionnaire probing smartphone addiction consisting of five dimensions: 1) overuse of smartphone, 2) the psychological-social dimension, 3) the health dimension, 4) preoccupation with smartphones, and 5) the technological dimension. After being validated, the questionnaire was administered to 416 students, both male and female, at King Saud University. Results revealed that addiction percentage among participants was 48%. The order of smartphone addiction indices were as follows: overuse of smartphone, the technological dimension, the psychological-social dimension, preoccupation with smartphones, and the health dimension. Significant gender differences were found in the degree of addiction on the whole questionnaire and all of its dimensions with the exception of the technological dimension in favor of males. Significant differences by social status were found in favor of the unmarried. Bachelor degree students were found to have the highest degree of addiction. Significant differences by hours of daily use were also detected in favor of participants using the smartphone for more than 4 h a day. As to the monthly income dimension, significant differences were found on the health dimension in favor of participants with lower monthly income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spearman's hypothesis tested at the level of items states that differences between ethnic groups on the items of an IQ test are a function of the g loadings of these items, such that there are small differences between ethnic groups on items with low g loadings and large differences between ethnic groups on items with high g loadings, and it has been confirmed in a fairly substantial number of studies. Most biological variables show correlational patterns that are more similar to the pattern in group differences than non-biological variables. In this paper, we tested Spearman's hypothesis, comparing a group of Sudanese children and adolescents ( N = 7226) with other groups of children and adolescents from Denmark, Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia, South Africa, Estonia, Ukraine, Ireland, Russia, and Chile (total N = 13,105). The analyses were carried out on 19 comparisons between the Sudanese children and the other children. Aggregating all data points from the present study showed that Spearman's hypothesis was strongly confirmed with a sample-size–weighted r with a value of .70; it is argued that applying corrections for statistical artifacts would make this value substantially larger. These outcomes suggest that biological variables, including brain-related variables, are more important than non-biological variables in explaining group differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies adopting a construct validity approach can be categorized into within- and between-network studies. Few studies have applied between-network approach and tested the correlations of the social (same-sex relations, opposite-sex relations, parent relations), moral (honesty-trustworthiness), and emotional (emotional stability) facets of the Self-Description Questionnaire II with external criteria. Using a sample of high school students (n = 628), the authors examined the relations of these 5 nonacademic self-concept facets with nonacademic external criteria (between-network studies) besides examining the factor structure of these five facets of self-concept (within-network studies). Results provided strong support for the convergent validity in that each predicted correlation was statistically significant. Also, the discriminant validity of the 5 nonacademic subscales was clearly demonstrated by showing that each external criterion was more highly correlated with the predicted (matching) Self-Description Questionnaire II subscale than any of the Self-Description Questionnaire II subscales. Hence, these facets of self-concept are 5 distinct factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a comprehensive study (15,356 Dutch 9th grade students from 651 classes in 95 schools) we empirically tested the dimensional comparison theory (DCT) propositions formulated by Möller & Marsh (2013) as an extension of I/E theory, exploring methodological, theoretical, and substantive insights. According to DCT, academic self-concepts (ASC) are formed in relation to dimensional comparisons in different school subjects, as well as to social and temporal comparisons. In support of DCT predictions, paths from achievement to ASC in matching domains were substantially positive, but paths to non-matching domains (e.g., math achievement to verbal self-concept) were significantly negative. Extending DCT, we show that the more dissimilar the subjects, the more negative the cross paths (far comparisons), whereas cross paths relating more similar subjects (near comparisons) are much less negative and sometimes positive. Extending previous self-concept research and its integration with DCT, we found that positive paths for matching domains and negative paths for non-matching domains were larger for class marks based on classroom performance than for standardized test scores. Controlling for direct measures of social comparison (meVclass ratings of how each student compares to classmates) substantially reduced positive paths from achievement to ASC in matching domains, but also reduced the size of the negative paths from non-matching domains. Supplemental analyses suggest that dimensional comparison processes in both subjective rankings and actual class marks are consistent with those found in ASCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study are to: (a) assess if cognitive self-concept (competence) and affective self-concept in mathematics and science are different constructs, (b) evaluate the construct validity of self-concept in the context of conflation and separation, and (c) test if the relationships among cognitive and affective variables are invariant across gender. The data for this study were obtained from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 database. Data about 2,687 out of 4,099 eighth grade Saudi students were subject to various analyses. The variables used in this study were mathematics and science self-concepts, and mathematics and science subject value as part of the Students Background Questionnaire. The relationships among constructs were examined with the use of SPSS16 and the structural equation modeling software, AMOS16. The results demonstrated that subject value and self-concept were different constructs. Also, the results demonstrated that cognitive and affective self-concepts were independent, but strongly related constructs, and the structure of the construct was clearer when self-concept was separated into cognitive and affective components than when it was conflated. The relationships among cognitive, affective, and subject value in mathematics and science were invariant across gender. However, their relationships with achievement were not invariant across gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model (Marsh, 1986) posits that the effects of contrasting math and verbal domains of achievement are positive for matching academic self-concepts (ASCs) but negative for nonmatching ASCs (i.e., math achievement on verbal ASC; verbal achievement on math ASC). We extend the classic I/E model by contrasting the math domain with 2 verbal domains (Chinese, native language; English, foreign language) in combination with language of instruction (English or Chinese) for a sample of 1,950 Hong Kong Year 7 students. Consistent with predictions based on the Marsh and Shavelson (1985) ASC model and our extension of the I/E model, we found that native and foreign languages were not contrasted with each other in the formation of ASCs. However, achievement in both verbal domains negatively predicted math ASC, while math achievement was also negatively predicted by ASCs in both verbal domains. Support for the predictions was similar for students taught in English and Chinese languages of instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer support interventions have mostly neglected the domain specificity of intervention effects. In two studies, the present investigation examined the domain specificity of peer support interventions targeting specific domains of self-concept. In Study 1, participants (n = 50) who had received an academically oriented peer support intervention on verbal subject matter improved significantly in verbal self-concept—but not other areas of self-concept—as compared with a control group that had not participated in the intervention. In Study 2, participants (n = 53) who had received a socially oriented peer support intervention that focused on interpersonal skills and communication improved significantly in same-sex relations self-concept—but not in other areas of self-concept—as compared with the control group. Hence, there is a compelling need for reconceptualizing peer support into academic and social domains in terms of domain specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the present study was to use the extensive Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) database from 1990–2017 to evaluate the levels and temporal correlation trends between disability adjusted life years (DALYs) attributed to musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders, all mental disorders collectively and by mental disorder sub-category. Methods: We utilized results of the GBD 2017 to describe the correlation patterns between DALYs due to MSK disorders, mental disorders and other diseases among 195 countries. Mixed model analysis was also applied. Results: A consistent relation was reported between age-adjusted DALYs attributed to MSK and mental disorders (in total) among the 195 countries, in both sexes, for 1990 to 2017 (1990 Rho = 0.487; 2017 Rho = 0.439 p < 0.05). Distinct regional and gender correlation patterns between age-adjusted DALYs due to MSK and mental disorders were reported. No correlation was reported between DALYs due to MSK and all mental disorders collectively, among Low- or Middle-income countries. However, in High-income countries (HICs), the correlation was strong and consistent between 1990 and 2017 (1990 Rho = 0.735; 2017 Rho = 0.727, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The reported correlation patterns call for targeted preventive strategies and intervention policies for mental and MSK disorders internationally. Special attention is needed among HICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]