Clear-Cut Terms and Culture-Sensitive Characteristics of Distinctive Casual Sexual Relationships in Portuguese Emerging Adults.

Casual sexual relationships (CSR) are increasingly common but limited empirical research has addressed their terminology and distinctive characteristics. This study sought to identify the most clear-cut terms and to consider how culture-sensitive characteristics distinguish casual sexual relationships among Portuguese emerging adults (N = 262, 18-29 years old). We combined two qualitative studies - one by association and another by free recall - to ascertain the clarity of the terms, plus a quantitative study to further characterize and differentiate them. Participants were asked to match descriptions of CSRs with the respective terms by which they are known (Study 1). The same was investigated using an evocation task requesting that participants produce the terms by which the described CSRs are known (Study 2). Binary logistic regressions were performed to analyze the associations between encounters and labels chosen, taking the effect of gender and age into account. In the third study, participants rated the degree to which eight characteristics were present in the types of CSR, a simultaneous task that led to greater understanding of their descriptive and differentiating characteristics. Multivariate analysis of variance was used, with gender and age as covariates. We conclude that two types of CSR - friends with benefits and one-night stand - and, to a lesser extent, making out, are understood and associated with consensual labels, also found by free-recall. These CSRs proved to be distinct, as they are understood as more different than similar in a set of psychoemotional, behavioral, and sexual characteristics. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12119-021-09859-0.

Self-regulation in oral hygiene behaviours in adults with gingivitis: The mediating role of coping planning and action control.

AIM: This study investigates the joint role of volitional predictors of oral hygiene behaviours of flossing and brushing in adults with gingivitis, framed by the Health Action Process Approach model (HAPA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a longitudinal online survey, 201 participants aged 18-75, of which 56.7% were women, completed assessments at baseline(T1), 2 weeks(T2) and 4 months(T3). Oral hygiene behaviours(OH) (brushing and flossing) and social cognitive determinants of behaviour in the HAPA: action and maintenance self-efficacy(ASE & MSE), intention(INT), coping planning(CP) and action control(AC) were evaluated. Structural equation modelling was used to test a series of three nested models. In Model 1, action self-efficacy would determine MSE and INT, and INT would determine OH; in Model 2, INT would determine both CP and AC and the two OH behaviours; and in Model 3, CP and AC would be sequential mediators between INT and OH. RESULTS: Model 3, predicting a mediating process from intention to behaviour via coping planning and action control, showed the best fit according to the fit indices and explained more of the variance in dental hygiene. The mediating role of coping planning and action control between intention and oral hygiene behaviours was thus confirmed. Importantly, coping planning did not mediate between intention and oral hygiene behaviours, which means that oral hygiene intention influences action control through coping planning, and both sequentially mediate this influence on behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: For individuals who are not yet following the recommendations for specific oral hygiene behaviours, coping planning and action control represent psychological mechanisms by which intentions are put into practice.

A multilevel perspective to explain recycling behaviour in communities.

Previous research on the motivation for environmentally responsible behaviour has focused mainly on individual variables, rather than organizational or collective variables. Therefore, the results of those studies are hardly applicable to environmental management. This study considers individual, collective, and organizational variables together that contribute to the management of environmental waste. The main aim is to identify, through the development of a multilevel model, those predictive variables of recycling behaviour that help organizations to increase the recycling rates in their communities. Individual (age, gender, educational level, self-efficacy with respect to residential recycling, individual recycling behaviour), organizational (satisfaction with the quality of the service provided by a recycling company), and collective (community recycling rates, number of inhabitants, community efficacy beliefs) motivational factors relevant to recycling behaviour were analysed. A sample of 1501 residents from 55 localities was surveyed. The results of multilevel analyses indicated that there was significant variability within and between localities. Interactions between variables at the level of the individual (e.g. satisfaction with service quality) and variables at the level of the collective (e.g. community efficacy) predicted recycling behaviour in localities with low and high community recycling rates and large and small populations. The interactions showed that the relationship between self-efficacy and recycling is stronger in localities with weak community efficacy beliefs than in communities with strong beliefs. The findings show that the relationship between satisfaction with service quality and recycling behaviour is stronger in localities with strong community efficacy beliefs than in communities with weaker beliefs and a smaller population. The results are discussed accordingly in relation to theory and possible contribution to waste management. Those findings may be incorporated in national and international environmental policies in order to promote environmentally responsible behaviour in citizenship.

Development and Validation of the Secondary Victimization Scale.

Sexual violence is ubiquitous in the history of human relationships, with the victim being perceived as responsible for their own misfortune. This phenomenon is labelled secondary victimization and is manifested in blaming, minimizing the suffering, and avoiding the victim. This article presents evidence of the validity of a scale that measures individual differences in these three types of secondary victimization of rape victims. In Study 1, we developed the scale items and analyzed their content validity. In Study 2, we carried out an exploratory analysis of its factorial structure and verified the set-up of the items in three theoretically predicted factors (blaming, minimizing the suffering, and avoiding the victim), which had convergent validity with the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, and discriminant validity with the Big Five Personality Traits, in addition to having concurrent validity with the Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS). In Study 3, we confirmed this tri-factor structure using confirmatory analysis. In Study 4, we analyzed the predictive validity of the Secondary Victimization Scale (SVS), proposing the hypothesis that secondary victimization mediates the effect of BJWS on the participants' behavior towards a rape victim. The summary of the results shows consistent evidence of the SVS's validity.

A Fertile Ground for Ambiguities: Casual Sexual Relationships Among Portuguese Emerging Adults.

Casual sexual relationships (CSRs) are frequent relationship experiences in young adulthood that provide opportunities for many to explore sexual relationships and to construct their sexual identity. Empirical research on casual sex is still lacking outside North-American countries, despite evidence pointing to the need to contextualize sexual interactions in their own sociocultural context. In order to better understand casual sexual relationships, these should be examined in with novel samples in other countries where a "hookup culture" as it is described in the North-American university campus is apparently absent. Through a qualitative study, we explored what casual sexual relationships consist of according to the perceptions of Portuguese college students (N = 35). The thematic analysis of eight focus group interviews resulted in the generation of six themes, three of which are presented here: (1) What CSRs are, regarding features and types of CSRs, (2) Why individuals engage in CSRs, focusing on positive and negative motivations, and (3) What one gets from CSRs, focusing on positive and negative outcomes of CSRs. Our findings showed that Portuguese emerging adults are familiarized with CSRs, particularly with one-night stand, friends with benefits and "curte"/hookup. Sexual interactions associated with other CSRs, such as booty call or fuck buddies, were mentioned but rarely associated with a distinctive label and established characteristics. Participants described the CSRs in a partially overlapping manner presenting some areas of ambiguity, such as with regard to sexual exclusivity and still-unlabeled sexual interactions. CSRs are generally evaluated as positively motivated and mainly beneficial. This study adds to the literature around casual sexual relationships by exploring and describing CSRs in a different sociocultural context, as well as indicating directions for future research in order to better prepare and empower young adults in their sexual and relational trajectories.

How Fair is Economic Inequality? Belief in a Just World and the Legitimation of Economic Disparities in 27 European Countries.

This article aims to examine the role of Belief in a Just World (BJW) in the legitimation of economic inequality. Using data from 27 European countries (N=47,086), we conducted multilevel analyses and found that BJW positively predicted the legitimation of economic inequality, measured by three indicators: the perceived fairness of the overall wealth inequality, and the fairness of the earnings made by the Top 10% and the Bottom 10% of society. These results persisted after controlling for individual- and country-level variables. Moreover, the BJW effect was stronger on the legitimation of the Bottom 10% incomes, compared to the legitimation of the Top 10%. We also found that economic inequality at the country-level reduced the BJW effect on legitimation of inequality. Finally, BJW displayed a negative indirect effect on support for redistribution, via the legitimation of economic inequalities.

Factor structure and gender invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory - second edition (BDI-II) in a community-dwelling sample of adults.

Objective: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition (BDI-II) in a sample of adults. Specifically, we evaluated the BDI-II based on confirmatory factor analysis of different measurement models, and compared the optimal factor structure of the BDI-II by gender using measurement invariance analysis. Method: A cross-sectional survey with 717 community-dwelling adults was conducted. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the BDI-II was administered. Seven different models (one-, two-, three-factor models and their bifactor structures) were tested through CFA. CFA and multigroup analysis were executed with the software MPLUS (Weighted Least Squares Estimator - WLSMV). Results: Four bifactor models reached acceptable fit indices. A bifactor model with two specific factors (Cognitive-Affective, and Somatic-Affective) provided the best fit to the data. The multigroup analysis of this model demonstrated invariance by gender. Conclusions: Our findings support the use of the total BDI-II score to identify depressive symptoms, including gender comparisons. Since a bifactor structure fit the data better, the scores of the specific factors should not be used as the first choice, or at least should be used with caution. The analysis of the severity of depression, based on a total score, seems to be the most appropriate option.

Under Victimization by an Outgroup: Belief in a Just World, National Identification, and Ingroup Blame.

Using representative probabilistic samples of Portuguese citizens and framed by an intergroup perspective, we carried out two studies aiming to address how national identification and belief in a just world (BJW) jointly predict secondary victimization of an ingroup as a whole (specifically ingroup blame). We conducted Study 1 (N = 779) in 2014, at the height of the European austerity policies imposed on Portugal by an institutional outgroup, specifically the Troika (the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund). Study 2 (N = 1140) was conducted after the Troika intervention. An environment of ongoing ingroup suffering caused by an outgroup is more threatening for the BJW of individuals who are more identified with the ingroup. We therefore predicted and found that BJW was positively associated with ingroup blame in participants higher in national identification when the victimization provoked by an institutional outgroup was higher (Study 1). However, when the suffering caused by the outgroup decreased, the association between BJW and secondary victimization was not moderated by individuals' national identification (Study 2). Indeed, a three-way interaction was found between BJW, national identification, and social context (high vs. low victimization). These results are an important contribution for the literature about justice motivation in terms of intergroup relations, because they show that secondary victimization produced by a threat to BJW has a group-based identity function.

Pathways between BMI and adherence to weight management in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: In order to understand the mechanisms involved in how overweight adolescents adhere to weight management and perceive its benefits, a few variables have been identified, namely, body mass index (BMI), body self-esteem (BSE) and positive perspective of life (PPL). METHODS: In a sample of 112 adolescents, we investigated whether BMI would predict adolescents' self-efficacy/adherence (SEA) to weight management and perception of its benefits. A structural equation modeling approach was chosen. We hypothesized that perceived quality of life (PQL) would mediate the relationships between BMI and SEA and between BMI and perception of benefits (PB). RESULTS: The results suggested that BMI is not directly associated with SEA and PB. However, PQL was identified as a mediator between BMI and SEA and PB. CONCLUSION: These findings bring important implications for understanding overweight adolescents' adherence to weight management. There is evidence that adolescents' adherence to weight management and PB are not predicted by their BMI. However, it has been shown that PQL mediates this process. For a long time, health professionals have been too focused on BMI. Time has come to be more focused on quality of life and how to improve it.