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Introduction: Some children between ages 3 and 6 claim to have memories of purported past lives. Prior research has documented this phenomenon in detail, including typical features and how it can manifest in the child's life. However, less is known about what happens to these children as they transition to adulthood and whether this childhood experience may impact their lives. Methods: We conducted the first observational follow-up study of American adults (N = 23) who were originally interviewed as children regarding their claims of past-life memories. Using online surveys with validated self-report questionnaires and a phone interview, we assessed personality traits, subjective well-being, and the impact of these memories on various domains in their lives. Results: Adults who reported apparent past-life memories as children seem to lead normal, productive lives and have high educational attainment compared to the general population. They exhibit moderate-to-high levels of spiritual well-being, and slightly elevated, but not pathological, dissociation and fantasy proneness, compared to unselected samples. Sixty-five percent endorsed some impact of the purported memories in their lives, with few reporting negative effects. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the degree of impact of this experience was positively associated with the trait of absorption. Conclusion: This study offers a first glimpse into the lives of American individuals touched by this intriguing childhood experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Belief in psi, which includes psychic phenomena such as extra-sensory perception and post-mortem survival, is widespread yet controversial. According to one of the leading and perhapsmost tested hypotheses, high belief in psi can be explained by differences in various aspects of cognition, including cognitive styles. Most of this research has been conducted with lay individuals. Here, we tested the hypothesis that academic researchers who investigate psi may exhibit different cognitive styles than lay individuals interested in psi, and are more similar to skeptics. Methods: We measured two cognitive styles--actively open-minded thinking (AOT) and the need for closure (NFC)--and assessed differences among four heterogeneous groups regarding belief in psi and involvement in related research. Specifically, our study included academic psi researchers (N = 44), lay individuals who believe in psi (N = 32), academics who are skeptics of psi (N = 35), and lay individuals who are skeptics (N = 33). Results: We found group differences in AOT (p = 0.003) but not in NFC scores (p = 0.67). Post hoc tests showed no significant difference in AOT scores between academics who conduct psi research (4.5 ± 0.3) and academic skeptics (4.5 ± 0.3; p = 0.91) or lay skeptics (4.5 ± 0.4; p = 0.80). The lay psi group had significantly lower AOT scores (4.2 ± 0.4) than the other three groups (ps: 0.005-0.04), indicating a decreased willingness to consider a range of evidence when forming an opinion, including evidence that challenges their beliefs. AOT was negatively associated with psi belief in the two skeptic groups combined (r = -0.29, p = 0.01), but not in the psi groups (r = -0.03, p = 0.78). Discussion: Our research shows that academics who work with psi differ from lay psi individuals, but not from skeptics, in actively open-minded thinking. In other words, despite their high belief in psi phenomena, psi researchers demonstrate a commitment to sound reasoning about evidence that is no different from that of skeptics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Death is a common existential concern, and fear of death is widespread at subclinical levels. Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound mystical experiences that may occur close to death, and they are usually followed by dramatic reductions in fear of death. The content of these experiences varies in each case, but NDEs tend to have common features among individuals and across cultures. While many studies using different tools to measure fear of death and death anxiety have documented their reduction after NDEs, we do not know the influence of specific NDE features on this effect. This research presents statistical correlations between features of NDEs and post-experience death attitudes, both negative and positive. We found that encountering mystical beings and having a life review during one's NDE are the strongest predictors of reduced fear of death. Contrary to theoretical predictions, a sense of disembodiment is not associated with change in death attitudes. These findings can be used to design interventions aimed at reducing fear of death in vulnerable populations, including people at end-of-life. We also discuss these findings in the context of Terror Management Theory regarding death awareness as a motivator of human behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After death communications(ADCs) are defined as perceived spontaneous contacts with living individuals by the deceased. This research presents on a subset of data from a recent large international survey of individuals who experienced ADCs and provided systematic information regarding these experiences. In our research we explore the impact of having an ADC on reported spirituality, religiosity, beliefs and attitudes about death and dying and also explore the moderating factors of this impact. We found that having an ADC was perceived as a positive life experience and that it was associated with a reduction in fear of death, belief in life after death and that the deceased could communicate with the living, and increased reported spirituality. Moderating factors include aspects of having or desiring physical contact with the deceased as well as perceiving some emotional reaction to the ADCs. Future directions for research exploration are also provided based on our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Representing the USA's largest ethnic/racial group, Hispanic/Latinx (HL) experience health challenges of proportional magnitude. This study investigates the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among HL adults and trust in their child's pediatrician. Methods: HL parents of children who receive medical care at one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Centers in the United States completed a survey examining associations between physician trust, vaccine hesitancy, and demographics. Data were subjected to ANOVA via SAS9 version 9.0 (Cary, NC) and SPSS version 27 (Chicago, IL) software. Results: With a total of 500 surveys completed (51% response rate; 81% completion rate), the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy amounted to 15.4% ( n  = 77). Parents with university-level education displayed higher levels of trust and perceptions in favor of routine vaccination practices ( p  < .01). When medical visits were conducted in Spanish, parents exhibited lower levels of trust and were more vaccine-hesitant ( p  < .01). Conclusions: Vaccine literacy must be prioritized in early education to reach parents who may not achieve college degrees. Ensuring language concordance within patient-physician dyads may maximize the potential for vaccine uptake and physician trust., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: To assess the face, content, and construct validities of a low-cost sinus surgery task trainer in acquisition of skills for endoscopic sinus surgery., Study Design: Prospective validation study., Setting: Tertiary academic center., Subjects and Methods: Attending otolaryngologists, otolaryngology residents at various levels of training, and medical students performed nasal endoscopy and 5 specific tasks using this model. Face and content validities were assessed based on the attendings' responses to a questionnaire evaluating the task trainer. Construct validity was determined by comparing novice to experienced performance using a validated checklist and globalized rating scale., Results: A total of 77 subjects participated in the study. Attending otolaryngologists responded to a survey after completing the tasks. Eighty percent of evaluators rated the trainer as realistic and agreed that this model correlates with the essential skills needed for endoscopic sinus surgery, 90% felt this model provided adequate training and would increase resident competency, and 90% were interested in using the model to train residents. On the task trainer, experienced otolaryngologists and senior residents scored significantly higher than junior residents and medical students using the objective measures of the globalized rating scale and checklist., Conclusion: This study demonstrates face, content, and construct validity of the low-cost sinus surgery task trainer. This model has the potential to be a valuable tool in endoscopic sinus surgery training for otolaryngology residents.