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Background: Compliance with preventive health behavior is crucial during dental visits. This study investigated using an audio device to increase dental patients' preventive health behavior. Methods: A randomized control study was conducted in private dental practices. The test group listened to an audio device containing public health messages related to COVID-19 and preventive health behavior. The control group listened to relaxing instrumental music with no public health messages. Results: A total of 65 participants (age 18-77 years) were allocated to each group. About 63% of the participants in the test group performed preventive health behaviors compared to the control group, but the difference was not significant. Significant differences in preventive health behavior were observed in both groups before and after treatment (p < 0.001). A significant difference in the awareness level was detected between the test and control group (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found in the knowledge and self-efficacy scores between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: An audio device used during dental treatment effectively delivered public health messages to improve preventive health behavior. Hence, an audio device can be used as alternative media to deliver public health information during dental visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health concern worldwide. This study aimed to assess the preventive behaviors, barriers, and drivers, including the knowledge and self-efficacy of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak by using a self-administered questionnaire. The instrument used was adopted from the World Health Organization resources. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the categorical data. Chi-square and independent t-test were performed to evaluate the associations between the variables and preventive behaviors. Results: A total of 465 (97.3%) respondents were recorded. The mean age was 34.3 ± 11.8 years old. A high percentage of the respondents (99.4%) were aware of the COVID-19 outbreak, and their knowledge mean score was 18.74 (Standard Deviation [SD]: 2.51). The mean scores of self-efficacy, barriers, and drivers were 11.07 (SD: 1.72), 5.20 (SD: 2.81), and 39.71 (SD: 5.17), respectively. Barriers (Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.10; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.01, 1.21; p < 0.05) and drivers (OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.17; p < 0.001) were found to be predictors for social distancing practices. Conclusions: Knowledge and self-efficacy were found to be at good levels, whereas self-efficacy, barriers, and drivers were revealed to be the predictive factors in determining the preventive behaviors. Adherence to preventive measures was largely affected by the behavioral drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study that analyzes hospitalized pediatric cancer patients' routines and activities to inform the game design to be used for the development of a digital game to empower them. This study focuses on discovering patients' experiences while being hospitalized. The patients' activities throughout their hospital stay are recorded through non-participatory observations strategy and their experiences inward are gathered through interview sessions with their parents or guardians who have been nursing them during their entire stay in the hospital. The findings suggest that the patients' experiences are divided into two main themes, namely positive and negative affect. These two themes are depending on the patients' treatment phases: before, during and after receiving medical treatments. These findings are crucial to being translated into design principles to inform game design. It is important to ensure that the digital game for pediatric cancer patients is designed properly to ensure its suitability to be played by them. The ability to understand the actual routines and experiences in the hospital would help designers and developers of digital games to develop a digital intervention to empower pediatric cancer patients while being hospitalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) and the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-4th edition (TONI-4) among Malaysian primary school children. Methods: A sample of 306 students with a mean age of 10.3 (SD=1.76) from Kuching, Kota Samarahan and Tebedu area in the State of Sarawak participated in this study. Participants were recruited based on multistage sampling. The schools were randomly selected, whereas participants were recruited based on convenience sampling. The test was administered face-to-face with the students. We administered all three sections of RCPM (A, AB and B) and we only administered Form A of TONI. TONI and RCPM were re-administered 14 days later. The same participants were given all three sections of RCPM and both Forms A and B of the TONI. Results: Both RCPM and TONI-4 showed good construct validity (ranging from r=0.56 to r=0.77 for RCPM and r=0.85 for TONI-4) and good concurrent validity. Test-retest reliability for both measures showed a good correlation (from r=0.60 to r=0.78 for RCPM and r=0.77 for TONI-4). Conclusions: The present findings suggest that RCPM and TONI-4 have good psychometric properties for testing the non-verbal intelligence of Malaysian primary school children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is an important developmental stage for every individual as it is a transition period from childhood to adulthood. Hence, many variables contribute to the feelings of life satisfaction among adolescents. It is therefore prudent to investigate what adolescents deem as important in influencing their life satisfaction. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between personality traits, attachment styles with adolescents' life satisfaction. A total of 315 respondents aged between 18 to 21 years old participated in this study. Three standardized instruments were used and they are: the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) to measure personality, the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Results showed that there were significant relationships between personality traits of extraversion, openness and conscientiousness with life satisfaction. The findings also indicated significant correlations between attachment styles of confidence and relationship with life satisfaction. In addition, results showed that there were significant relationships between most of the personality traits with attachment styles. In conclusion, adolescents who were satisfied with their lives were those who have personality traits of extraversion, openness and conscientiousness and secure attachment style. These findings give important insights in understanding the well-being of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rate of suicide ideation everywhere continues to increase, and adolescents are therefore at risk of displaying suicidal behaviour. This study examined the protective role of the reasons for living and coping strategies in reducing suicidal ideation among young adolescents in Malaysia., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 176 adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years of age with the majority being Malay and Muslim. The Brief Reasons for Living for Adolescents (BRFL-A), Jalowiec Coping Scale and Suicide Ideation Scale were employed., Results: The results showed that the reasons for living and palliative coping strategy correlated negatively with suicide ideation; although, further analysis using multiple regression revealed that family alliance and optimistic and palliative coping strategies were found to be significant reasons for living that protect adolescents from suicidal thoughts. Also, those adolescents who used emotive and evasive coping strategies had higher suicidal ideation., Conclusion: Cultural and social values continue to play an important role in protecting adolescents in Malaysia from suicidal behaviour., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest None