Emotion regulation strategies and psychological health across cultures.

Emotion regulation is important for psychological health and can be achieved by implementing various strategies. How one regulates emotions is critical for maximizing psychological health. Few studies, however, tested the psychological correlates of different emotion regulation strategies across multiple cultures. In a preregistered cross-cultural study (N = 3,960, 19 countries), conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we assessed associations between the use of seven emotion regulation strategies (situation selection, distraction, rumination, cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, expressive suppression, and emotional support seeking) and four indices of psychological health (life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and loneliness). Model comparisons based on Bayesian information criteria provided support for cultural differences in 36% of associations, with very strong support for differences in 18% of associations. Strategies that were linked to worse psychological health in individualist countries (e.g., rumination, expressive suppression) were unrelated or linked to better psychological health in collectivist countries. Cultural differences in associations with psychological health were most prominent for expressive suppression and rumination and also found for distraction and acceptance. In addition, we found evidence for cultural similarities in 46% of associations between strategies and psychological health, but none of this evidence was very strong. Cultural similarities were most prominent in associations of psychological health with emotional support seeking. These findings highlight the importance of considering the cultural context to understand how individuals from diverse backgrounds manage unpleasant emotions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Prevention and control of violence and aggression in football fans: Implications for sport psychologists, fans, and policymakers.

This research was conducted to design an interpretive structural model of factors affecting the prevention and control of violence and aggression in football fans. The statistical population of this study was entirely composed of sport experts, executive managers, sociologists, and management professors in Iran. Thirteen individuals were accordingly selected as the research sample using non-probability purposeful sampling. The effective factors were identified through library study and reviewing the theoretical foundations and research background. Confirming the content validity of these factors by considering experts' opinions, 14 factors were finally identified. The interrelationships between the factors were determined using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), and network analysis based on Decision Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was also employed to measure their importance, ranking them accordingly. The factors were categorized into four levels according to ISM. The highest level (first level) includes "match day service quality," "fair refereeing," "consolidation of social ties," and "cognitive reconstruction of fans." The second level contains "design, protection, and security of stadiums," "patterning and identification," and "use of calming techniques." "Awareness and informing" and "anger control training" belong to the third level, while the lowest level (fourth level) includes "media," "fan organizations," "laws, regulations, and security solutions," "moral education or persuasion," and "teaching communication skills to fans." Among them, the last level is fundamental, influencing the other factors. The results obtained in this work can be used as a basis for policymaking to reduce violence and aggression among football fans.

Succumbing to the COVID-19 Pandemic-Healthcare Workers Not Satisfied and Intend to Leave Their Jobs.

Healthcare workers are under such a tremendous amount of pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic that many have become concerned about their jobs and even intend to leave them. It is paramount for healthcare workers to feel satisfied with their jobs and lives during a pandemic. This study aims to examine the predictors of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 10 and 30 April 2020, 240 healthcare workers in Bolivia completed a cross-sectional online survey, which assessed their job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that their number of office days predicted job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention, but the relationships varied by their age. For example, healthcare workers' office days negatively predicted job satisfaction for the young (e.g., at 25 years old: b = - 0.21; 95% CI: - 0.36 to - 0.60) but positively predicted job satisfaction for the old (e.g., at 65 years old: b = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.44). These findings provide evidence to enable healthcare organizations to identify staff concerned about job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention to enable early actions so that these staffs can remain motivated to fight the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The Relationship Between Age and Mental Health Among Adults in Iran During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The evidence on the predictors of mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed contradictory findings, which prevent effective screening for mental health assistance. This study aims to identify the predictors of mental health issues, specifically examining age as a nonlinear predictor. Based on a survey of 474 adults using snowball sampling under the COVID-19 pandemic during April 1th-10th, 2020, in Iran, we found that age had a curvilinear relationship with nonsomatic pain, depression, and anxiety. Specifically, it predicted pain, depression, and anxiety disorders, negatively among adults younger than 45 years, yet positively among seniors older than 70 years. Adults who were female, were unsure about their chronic diseases, or exercised less were more likely to have mental health issues. This study, being the first paper to examine age curvilinearly, suggests future research to pay more attention to nonlinear predictors of mental health disorders in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appraisal and coping predict health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international approach.

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people worldwide. We conducted an international survey (n = 3646) examining the degree to which people's appraisals and coping activities around the pandemic predicted their health and well-being. We obtained subsamples from 12 countries-Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Turkey and the United States. For each, we assessed appraisals and coping strategies as well as indicators of physical and mental health and well-being. Results indicated that, despite mean-level societal differences in outcomes, the pattern of appraisals and coping strategies predicting health and well-being was consistent across countries. Use of disengagement coping (particularly behavioural disengagement and self-isolation) was associated with relatively negative outcomes. In contrast, optimistic appraisals (particularly of high accommodation-focused coping potential and the ability to meet one's physical needs), use of problem-focused coping strategies (especially problem-solving) and accommodative coping strategies (especially positive reappraisal and self-encouragement) were associated with relatively positive outcomes. Our study highlights the critical importance of considering accommodative coping in stress and coping research. It also provides important information on how people have been dealing with the pandemic, the predictors of well-being under pandemic conditions and the generality of such relations.

The Mental Health of Healthcare Staff Working During the COVID-19 Crisis: Their Working Hours as a Boundary Condition.

PURPOSE: Healthcare staff operate at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and hence face enormous physical and mental pressures. We aim to investigate healthcare staff's mental health issues and the associated predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this paper aims to identify some unique predictors of healthcare staff's mental health issues in Iran, the second country after China to experience a major COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: An online survey of 280 healthcare staff in all 31 provinces of Iran assessed staff's mental distress (K6), depression, and anxiety (PHQ-4) during April 5-20, 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. RESULTS: Nearly a third of healthcare staff surpassed the cutoff for distress, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Females or more educated healthcare staff were more likely to experience distress. Those who were unsure whether they had COVID-19 were more likely to experience distress and depression symptoms. The number of COVID-19 cases among a healthcare worker's colleagues or friends positively predicted the worker's anxiety symptoms. Amongst healthcare staff, doctors were less likely than radiology technologists to experience distress and anxiety symptoms. Technicians and obstetrics staff experienced fewer anxiety symptoms. The age and the weekly working days of healthcare staff interacted such that age is asignificant predictor of mental health issues among younger but not older healthcare staff. CONCLUSION: The identification of the predictors of mental health issues can guide healthcare organizations to screen healthcare workers who are more likely to be mentally vulnerable in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond Predicting the Number of Infections: Predicting Who is Likely to Be COVID Negative or Positive.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to identify individuals' likelihood of being COVID negative or positive, enabling more targeted infectious disease prevention and control when there is a shortage of COVID-19 testing kits. METHODS: We conducted a primary survey of 521 adults on April 1-10, 2020 in Iran, where 3% reported being COVID-19 positive and 15% were unsure whether they were infected. This relatively high positive rate enabled us to conduct the analysis at the 5% significance level. RESULTS: Adults who exercised more were more likely to be COVID-19 negative. Each additional hour of exercise per day predicted a 78% increase in the likelihood of being COVID-19 negative. Adults with chronic health issues were 48% more likely to be COVID-19 negative. Those working from home were the most likely to be COVID-19 negative, and those who had stopped working due to the pandemic were the most likely to be COVID-19 positive. Adults employed in larger organizations were less likely to be COVID-19 positive. CONCLUSION: This study enables more targeted infectious disease prevention and control by identifying the risk factors of COVID-19 infections from a set of readily accessible information. We hope this research opens a new research avenue to predict the individual likelihood of COVID-19 infection by risk factors.

Anxiety, Distress, and Turnover Intention of Healthcare Workers in Peru by Their Distance to the Epicenter during the COVID-19 Crisis.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the anxiety, distress, and turnover intention (likelihood to leave their current job) of healthcare workers in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results reported that 21.7% healthcare workers in Peru experienced severe anxiety, whereas 26.1% of them experienced severe mental distress. A higher level of education related with a lower level of anxiety. Younger workers had a higher level of turnover intention than their older colleagues did. Healthcare workers in the private sector had a higher turnover intention than those in the public sector. Most importantly, people who were geographically far from Lima, the epicenter in Peru, during the outbreak experienced less anxiety and mental distress, corroborating the ripple effect and disconfirming the typhoon eye theory. However, the direction of these relationships can change depending on the type of institutions (public versus private) and the type of employees' contract (full time versus part time). Our research helps provide insights for clinical professionals in identifying the vulnerable groups to mental disorders in Peru. This is the first study to assess anxiety, mental distress, and turnover intention in healthcare workers in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developing and testing a measure of COVID-19 organizational support of healthcare workers - results from Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are facing high workloads with resource constraints and risk of virus exposure, and healthcare organizations need to support their healthcare workers to reduce their anxiety. Based on a recent 8-point framework of COVID-19 specific organization support, we devised a measure of COVID-19 Organizational Support (COVID-OS). We tested the new measure with 712 healthcare workers in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru and found the new measure formed three factors to predict healthcare workers' anxiety and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. We call for further studies to test COVID-OS in other countries and settings.

At the height of the storm: Healthcare staff's health conditions and job satisfaction and their associated predictors during the epidemic peak of COVID-19.

This study reports the physical health, mental health, anxiety, depression, distress, and job satisfaction of healthcare staff in Iran when the country faced its highest number of total active COVID-19 cases. In a sample of 304 healthcare staff (doctors, nurses, radiologists, technicians, etc.), we found a sizable portion reached the cutoff levels of disorders in anxiety (28.0%), depression (30.6%), and distress (20.1%). Age, gender, education, access to PPE (personal protective equipment), healthcare institutions (public vs. private), and individual status of COVID-19 infection each predicted some but not all the outcome variables of SF-12, PHQ-4, K6, and job satisfaction. The healthcare workers varied greatly in their access to PPE and in their status of COVID-19 infection: negative (69.7%), unsure (28.0%), and positive (2.3%). The predictors were also different from those identified in previous studies of healthcare staff during the COVID-19 crisis in China. This study helps to identify the healthcare staff in need to enable more targeted help as healthcare staff in many countries are facing peaks in their COVID-19 cases.

Antecedents of Corporate Environmental Commitments: The Role of Customers.

The management of natural environments has become a fundamental issue for companies in recent years. A firm’s environmental commitment affects all levels of its operation. In this study, we investigated whether having an effective and constant relationship with customers over time (customer capital) makes a difference to firms with a high environmental commitment compared with less environmentally committed firms. We found support for our idea by using original survey data from 149 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran (2016⁻2017). Furthermore, we found that customer capital enhances environmental collaboration with customers which, in turn, has a positive impact on the firm’s environmental commitments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the important role of “getting closer to customers” as a way of enhancing corporate environmental responsibility in developing countries with weak institutional environments.