Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Original Grit Scale (Grit-O) Among Cambodian Adolescents.

Background: Cambodian youth face many unique challenges, such as high instances of poverty and intergenerational trauma. Grit, a person-level trait defined as having "perseverance and passion for long-term goals", may be particularly important in helping Cambodian youth to succeed despite the extreme challenges they face. To date, the Original Grit Scale (Grit-O) has not been translated in Khmer or validated for a sample of Cambodian youth. Purpose: This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of a Khmer translation of the Original Grit Scale (Grit-O) among urban Cambodian youth. Research Design: A cross-section survey battery -including Grit-O and other relevant covariates -was administered to Cambodian youth. Study Sample: Data were collected from 580 Cambodian adolescents (Mage = 15.85 years, SDage = 2.05, 63.7% female). Data Collection and Analysis: Paper and pencil surveys were sent home from school with each participant and returned to the study team the next day. Analyses included calculating Cronbach's alphas, interitem correlations, correlations with relevant covariates and both a confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Results: Cronbach's alphas and interitem correlations indicated that the full scale was not reliable for this sample, and that reliability improved when two items (I become interested in new pursuits every few months -reverse-scored and I finish whatever I begin) were excluded. The subscales Consistency of Interests and Perseverance of Effort were more reliable than the full scale. Correlations with relevant covariates indicated that the full scale was moderately valid. Factor analyses suggested that items 6 and 7 did not load well onto either identified factor. Conclusions: Investigators measuring grit in a sample of Cambodian youth should consider excluding items 6 and 7 of Grit-O, and assessing the two subscales on their own, rather than treating them as indicators of a single higher-order construct.

Profiles of future expectations among urban adolescents in Cambodia.

Adolescents are tasked with navigating competing priorities, including whether to marry, have children, pursue a job/career, go to college, and contribute to society. The developmental task of building expectations for the future is especially complex for Cambodian adolescents living within a society that strongly prioritizes family obligations yet increasingly provides educational and professional opportunities. The current study, guided by Seginer's (2003) future orientation model, applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to explore patterns of Cambodian adolescents' (N = 580, 64% female, Mage = 15.85) future expectations across key life domains and predictors of those patterns. LPA identified four profiles: Low Expectancy (low expectations across all domains; 12%), Family Focused (high expectations to get married and have children; 31%), Professional/Service Focused (high expectations across education, employment, and societal contribution domains; 27%), and High Expectancy (high expectations across all domains; 30%). Females were more likely than males to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High Expectancy profile. Adolescents with greater internal locus of control and family obligation were less likely to be in the Low Expectancy and Family Focused than High Expectancy profile, whereas adolescents in higher grade levels were more likely to be in the Family Focused than High Expectancy profile. Adolescents with closer relationships with mothers were less likely to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High Expectancy profile; adolescents with closer relationships with fathers were more likely to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High and Low Expectancy profiles. Findings elucidate configurations of adolescents' future expectations, and factors distinguishing among adolescents with different configurations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Critical Consciousness of Food Systems as a Potential Lifestyle Intervention on Health Issues.

When examining food systems in contemporary, industrialized, and globalized nations such as the United States, there is a quantity over quality cultural mind-set driven by capitalism. This creates an environment in which consumer desires for convenient lifestyles run high, mainly focused on the production of food and individual financial gain rather than the food systems as a whole. This approach neglects the overall outcomes in health, wellness, health disparities, and the sustainability footprint associated with consumption. Food is more than just food. It involves a network of different levels and elements that creates a multidimensional framework in which food systems, and the choices produced within those systems, can either positively or negatively affect consumers' lifestyles and health. This article discusses the importance of food systems and the ways in which they can be incorporated into a lifestyle intervention for general food consumers as well as those suffering from dietary-related diseases. With a critical understanding that structural barriers associated with current food systems are partly responsible for dietary-related diseases, individuals' self-blame and guilt can be alleviated and liberated, thus enhancing overall emotional and physical health. Drawing on social cognitive theory, food systems are conceptualized into triadic, dynamic interaction of environment (eg, food production, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, disposing), cognition (eg, learned experience, and knowledge of food, nutrition, and wellness), and behavior (eg, food purchasing, preparation, and consumption).

Cambodian Remarried Women Are at Risk for Domestic Violence.

Divorce rates continue to rise, especially in urban centers, which in turn contributes to increasing numbers of women who remarry. While remarriage is one of the only options for survival for divorced women, especially those from low socioeconomic status, remarriage also brings with it increased stressors of financial strain and the strain of blended families. This study tested the hypothesis that remarried women compared with first-time married and divorced women are at increased risk for domestic violence. The sample was drawn from the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey, consisting of 1,560 women with the average age of 31.64. Results showed that 20% of women reported emotional violence and 14%, physical violence. Based on hierarchical multiple regressions, this study found that remarried women were more likely to experience physical and emotional abuse than women in their first marriage or women who remain divorced/not in union. Further interaction analyses showed that domestic violence varies depending on place of residence, number of children younger than 5 years, partners' education, and wealth index. Rural residents who were in poorest and poorer groups and urban residents in their poorer and middle groups of their wealth index showed high risk of domestic violence. Remarried women with two or three children younger than 5 years showed highest risk of domestic violence. Additional three-way interaction analysis revealed that remarried women residing in rural/urban areas with a spouse having no education and/or primary level of education were at highest risk of domestic violence. The study lends support to the structural role of the power of male dominance on women's social and emotional well-being. This study suggested that to reduce men's perceived domination, structural intervention that includes implementing gender-responsive curriculum in formal education, as well as strengthening domestic violence law enforcement would help reduce domestic violence against women.

Healthy Lifestyle Through Home Gardening: The Art of Sharing.

This article offers a solution to promoting healthy lifestyle through home gardening and how gardening activities create social capital through social interactions among family members and people within communities, through sharing. This article begins by reviewing general social, psychological, and physical health benefits of home gardening followed by barriers associated with starting a garden that include lack of time, scarce resources, insufficient knowledge and skills, and inadequate space. This article argues that beyond the skills and knowledge, inspiration is the key in creating and sustaining a home garden. Through the idea of networking with families in a community and building these social relationships, it increases more opportunities to inspire and be inspired, fosters a greater sense of joy in gardening, encourages a chain reaction of sharing, and connects people together. As people share, it creates a pattern of social interactions and reciprocity among those who share and the recipients within the network that will then lead to increased social relationships, trust, and a social norm of sharing. Sharing itself also creates an opportunity for others to share back because in some situations, people do not know how to initiate the sharing process or have difficulty doing so. The article ends with a discussion on promoting a sustainable, active, and healthy lifestyle by engaging children in the process of gardening and sharing geminated plants/produce with their peers and other families, hence fostering a lifelong appreciation and consumption of plants they grow, learn, share, and heal together in the process.