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Fulltext "I can't stop worrying about everything"—experiences of rural Bangladeshi women during the first postpartum months

Edhborg M, Nasreen HE, Kabir ZN

Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being, 2015;10:26226.
PMID: 25595913 DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v10.26226

Over recent years, researchers have found evidence which indicates that the prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms crosses cultural boundaries and is reported to be at least as high in non-Western countries as in Western countries. However, qualitative studies about new mothers' experiences from non-Western countries, such as Bangladesh, are rare, particularly in rural areas. This study aims to describe the experiences and concerns of rural Bangladeshi mothers with postpartum depressive symptoms. Open narrative interviews were conducted with 21 mothers with depressive symptoms 2-3 months postpartum, consecutively selected from a longitudinal study about prevalence and risk factors of perinatal depressive symptoms. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse data and three themes emerged: family dynamics, living at the limits of survival, and role of the cultural context after childbirth. These themes were based on six categories and 15 subcategories. The findings show that troublesome family relationships, including intimate partner violence and violence in the family, influenced the mothers' mental well-being. They and their families lived at the limit of survival and the mothers expressed fear and worries about their insecure situation regarding economic difficulties and health problems. They felt sorry for being unable to give their infants a good start in life and sad because they could not always follow the traditional norms related to childbirth. Thus, it is important to focus on the depressive symptoms among new mothers and offer counselling to those showing depressive symptoms, as the cultural traditions do not always alleviate these symptoms in the changing Bangladeshi society today.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader

Sprong S, Jetten J, Wang Z, Peters K, Mols F, Verkuyten M, et al.

Psychol Sci, 2019 11;30(11):1625-1637.
PMID: 31566081 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619875472

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
'A better alternative': why women use peer-to-peer shared milk

Gribble KD

Breastfeed Rev, 2014 Mar;22(1):11-21.
PMID: 24804519

The process by which women came to use internet-facilitated peer-to-peer shared milk was explored via a written questionnaire administered to 41 peer milk recipients from five countries. Respondents were universally unable to provide some or all of the milk their infants required. Twenty-nine dyads had a medical condition that could have affected their ability to breastfeed. Many respondents had had great difficulty in finding health workers who could assist them with their breastfeeding challenges. Before obtaining peer-shared milk, respondents had tried to increase their own milk supply, used infant formula or sought donor milk from personal contacts. Health workers dealing with breastfeeding women require greater training in the recognition and treatment of conditions that adversely affect breastfeeding including a physiological incapacity to fully breastfeed. Peer-to-peer milk recipients appear to be very satisfied with the solution milk sharing provides to their problem of being unable to fully breastfeed their infants.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
'Rallying around the flag': Can an intergroup contact intervention promote national unity?

Al Ramiah A, Hewstone M

Br J Soc Psychol, 2012 Jun;51(2):239-56.
PMID: 21793860 DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02041.x

A longitudinal study evaluated the success of a contact-based nation-building intervention (the Malaysian National Service Programme) in promoting various facets of national unity. The study assessed how post-test measures of quality of intergroup contact, outgroup evaluations, and levels of identification changed compared to their respective pre-test levels, for both National Service and control group participants. The intervention did not lead to a worsening of any of the constructs related to intergroup relations, which is noteworthy given the novelty for many participants of mixing in a multi-ethnic setting. Furthermore, all rater groups (Malays, Chinese, and Indians) maintained their ethnic identity, even in the presence of high levels of national identity, which we discuss with respect to past research on the effects of positive intergroup contact on minority group identification. However, the changes associated with the intervention yielded only small effect sizes, and, on the whole, National Service participants did not show significantly greater improvement than that experienced by control participants. We discuss the value of intergroup contact in this novel setting, considering various features of this programme that may have limited its effectiveness and discuss how such interventions can more successfully meet their goals.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
Fulltext A Longitudinal Study of Emotional and Behavioral Problems among Malaysian School Children

Idris IB, Barlow J, Dolan A

Ann Glob Health, 2019 03 07;85(1).
PMID: 30873768 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.2336

BACKGROUND: Emotional and behavioral problems (EBD) or mental health problems in children and adolescents are an important public health issue, but there has been no evaluation to date of the extent of such problems in near-developed countries. This study evaluated the prevalence and stability of EBD among children in Malaysia.
METHODS: This research comprises a longitudinal population-based study that measured the prevalence and 6-month stability of EBD in children aged seven to eight years and thirteen to fourteen years attending public schools in Malaysia based on parents, teachers and children's (aged 13 to 14 years) report of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at baseline and 6 months later.
FINDINGS: The prevalence of EBD in Malaysian school children was 9.3% for teacher-report, 8.5% for parent-report and 3.9% for child-report. There was no significance difference in the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems over six-months for all informants, except for teacher-report Emotional and Conduct problems scores which increased significantly and child-report Total Difficulties and Emotional problems scores which decreased significantly (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the prevalence of EBD among Malaysian children is almost similar to the Western countries and stable over a 6-month period. These findings suggest the need for policy makers in near-developed countries to provide services aimed at preventing EBD and treating children identified as having such problems.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
A Qualitative Study of HIV "Test-and-Treat" Experience Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Malaysia

Lim SH, Alias H, Kien JKW, Akbar M, Kamarulzaman A, Wong LP

AIDS Educ Prev, 2019 06;31(3):193-205.
PMID: 31145000 DOI: 10.1521/aeap.2019.31.3.193

This study aimed to examine the barriers and facilitators to HIV testing and treatment among Malaysian MSM. Between June 2014 and December 2015, in-depth interviews were conducted in 20 HIV-positive MSM recruited from a teaching hospital and NGO in Kuala Lumpur. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report themes. Most participants investigated their HIV status after long period of sickness. Others sought testing upon partner's diagnosis and some were diagnosed via blood donation. Barriers to testing include personal (perceived good health, fear of positive result, denial); social and structural factors (stigmatization by health providers and family, lack of information about free HIV testing and long wait time). Barriers to treatment comprise personal factors (perceived HIV as incurable and treatment as complicated), social factors (HIV and homosexual stigma), and cost. Promoting benefits of regular testing and early treatment is needed to improve HIV care continuum among MSM in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
A Review of Machine Learning Methods of Feature Selection and Classification for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Rahman MM, Usman OL, Muniyandi RC, Sahran S, Mohamed S, Razak RA

Brain Sci, 2020 Dec 07;10(12).
PMID: 33297436 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10120949

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), according to DSM-5 in the American Psychiatric Association, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that includes deficits of social communication and social interaction with the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors. Children with ASD have difficulties in joint attention and social reciprocity, using non-verbal and verbal behavior for communication. Due to these deficits, children with autism are often socially isolated. Researchers have emphasized the importance of early identification and early intervention to improve the level of functioning in language, communication, and well-being of children with autism. However, due to limited local assessment tools to diagnose these children, limited speech-language therapy services in rural areas, etc., these children do not get the rehabilitation they need until they get into compulsory schooling at the age of seven years old. Hence, efficient approaches towards early identification and intervention through speedy diagnostic procedures for ASD are required. In recent years, advanced technologies like machine learning have been used to analyze and investigate ASD to improve diagnostic accuracy, time, and quality without complexity. These machine learning methods include artificial neural networks, support vector machines, a priori algorithms, and decision trees, most of which have been applied to datasets connected with autism to construct predictive models. Meanwhile, the selection of features remains an essential task before developing a predictive model for ASD classification. This review mainly investigates and analyzes up-to-date studies on machine learning methods for feature selection and classification of ASD. We recommend methods to enhance machine learning's speedy execution for processing complex data for conceptualization and implementation in ASD diagnostic research. This study can significantly benefit future research in autism using a machine learning approach for feature selection, classification, and processing imbalanced data.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Fulltext A case study on social interaction among multi-ethnic students to maintain national integration

'Adlina Abdul Khalil, Rosfazila Abd Rahman, Hairol Anuar Mak Din

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018;3(3):131-135.
MyJurnal

This is a case study research that is trying to identify a social interaction among multi ethnic students to maintain national integration. This research is concern on the factors that influence social interaction among students through co-curriculum activities like participate in sports and clubs at school. Findings from interview session individualy and grouping at two secondary schools at Kuala Ketil, Kedah shown there is a conflict and stereotype among students, however feeling to learn and accept the differences within ethnics still exist. Throughout the research, it shows that factors from external influence comes from school and peer groups. However, in the part of internal influence it is from student’s intrapersonal factor. In order to maintain social interaction among students, strategies had been taken by school through co-curriculum activities like sports and clubs. As a conclusion, a good social interaction among multiethnic students very important and need support from school’s administrator to maintain and sustain the harmonius and glory of the nation.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
A holistic (Horney) approach to the psychoses: the schizophrenias. I. Sociocultural, developmental and psychogenetic factors

Rubins JL

Am J Psychoanal, 1969;29(2):131-46.
PMID: 4900056
Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
A transcultural view of sibling rank and mental disorder

Hartog J

Acta Psychiatr Scand, 1974;50(1):33-49.
PMID: 4826849
Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Addressing men and gender diversity in education: a promising solution to the HIV/AIDS epidemic

Ghajarieh AB, Kow KY

Health Care Women Int, 2011 Apr;32(4):314-27.
PMID: 21409664 DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2010.532577

To date, researchers investigating gender in relation to social issues underscore women and appear to sideline men. Focusing on women in studies concerning sociogender issues may exclude not only men from mainstream research, but also those who do not fit into the binary gender system, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people. One area closely related to gender issues is the HIV epidemic. Mainstream discussions of men and other versions of masculinity and femininity including GLBT people in the gender-related studies of the HIV epidemic can decrease the vulnerability of individuals against HIV infections regardless of their biological sex.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Fulltext Adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students using Facebook

Al-Dubai SA, Ganasegeran K, Al-Shagga MA, Yadav H, Arokiasamy JT

ScientificWorldJournal, 2013;2013:465161.
PMID: 24453859 DOI: 10.1155/2013/465161

Little is known about the relationships between adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students using Facebook. The aim of this study was to determine the associations between adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors with Facebook use. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a private university in Malaysia among 316 medical students. A self-administered questionnaire was used. It included questions on sociodemographics, pattern of Facebook use, social relationship, unhealthy behaviors, and health effects. Mean age was 20.5 (±2.7) years. All students had a Facebook account. The average daily Facebook surfing hours were 2.5 (±1.7). Significant associations were found between average hours of Facebook surfing and the following factors: isolation from family members and community, refusing to answer calls, musculoskeletal pain, headache, and eye irritation (P < 0.005). The average hours spent on Facebook were significantly associated with holding urination and defecation while online, surfing Facebook until midnight, and postponing, forgetting, or skipping meals (P < 0.005). The average hours spent on Facebook were associated with adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students, as well as social isolation from the family and community.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
An Asian perspective on relationship and marriage education

Huang WJ

Fam Process, 2005 Jun;44(2):161-73.
PMID: 16013743

The goal of this article is to provide couple therapists and relationship educators with information to enhance the cultural relevance of their work with Asian populations. Because of the rapid social, economic, cultural, and gender role changes, the various Asian interpretations of the institution of marriage are undergoing major transformation. This article describes the general trends in marriage in several Asian nations, with a focus on the swiftly rising divorce rates and changing cultural attitudes to marriage, and discusses current relationship education initiatives in these nations. Finally, based on my experiences working with Asian populations, I present a few humble insights regarding adaptation of marriage education to render it more culturally appropriate for Asians.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
Fulltext Are Social Relationships an Underestimated Resource for Mental Health in Persons Experiencing Physical Disability? Observational Evidence From 22 Countries

Fekete C, Tough H, Arora M, Hasnan N, Joseph C, Popa D, et al.

Int J Public Health, 2021;66:619823.
PMID: 34744581 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2021.619823

Objectives: As advancing evidence on modifiable resources to support mental health in persons experiencing physical disabilities is of particular importance, we investigate whether structural and functional social relationships relate to mental health in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Data from 12,330 participants of the International SCI community survey (InSCI) from 22 countries were analyzed. Structural (partnership status, living situation) and functional aspects of social relationships (belongingness, relationship satisfaction, problems with social interactions) were regressed on the SF-36 mental health index (MHI-5), stratified by countries and for the total sample using multilevel models. Results: Functional aspects of social relationships were consistently related to clinically relevant higher MHI-5 scores and lower risk of mental health disorders (MHI-5 >56). Structural social relationships were inconsistently associated with mental health in our sample. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that functional aspects of social relationships are important resources for mental health. Interventions to establish and maintain high quality relationships should be considered in public health interventions and rehabilitation programs to reduce long-term mental health problems in persons experiencing physical disabilities.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
Assessment of patients' level of satisfaction with cleft treatment using the Cleft Evaluation Profile

Noor SN, Musa S

Cleft Palate Craniofac J, 2007 May;44(3):292-303.
PMID: 17477746

OBJECTIVES: Determination of the psychosocial status and assessment of the level of satisfaction in Malaysian cleft palate patients and their parents.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Sixty cleft lip and palate patients (12 to 17 years of age) from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and their parents were selected. The questionnaires used were the Child Interview Schedule, the Parents Interview Schedule, and the Cleft Evaluation Profile (CEP), administered via individual interviews.
RESULTS: Patients were teased because of their clefts and felt their self-confidence was affected by the cleft condition. They were frequently teased about cleft-related features such as speech, teeth, and lip appearance. Parents also reported that their children were being teased because of their clefts and that their children's self-confidence was affected by the clefts. Both showed a significant level of satisfaction with the treatment provided by the cleft team. There was no significant difference between the responses of the patients and their parents. The features that were found to be most important for the patients and their parents, in decreasing order of priority, were teeth, nose, lips, and speech.
CONCLUSIONS: Cleft lip and/or palate patients were teased because of their clefts, and it affected their self-confidence. The Cleft Evaluation Profile is a reliable and useful tool to assess patients' level of satisfaction with treatment received for cleft lip and/or palate and can identify the types of cleft-related features that are most important for the patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Brain functional connectivity patterns for emotional state classification in Parkinson's disease patients without dementia

Yuvaraj R, Murugappan M, Acharya UR, Adeli H, Ibrahim NM, Mesquita E

Behav Brain Res, 2016 Feb 1;298(Pt B):248-60.
PMID: 26515932 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.10.036

Successful emotional communication is crucial for social interactions and social relationships. Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients have shown deficits in emotional recognition abilities although the research findings are inconclusive. This paper presents an investigation of six emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust) of twenty non-demented (Mini-Mental State Examination score >24) PD patients and twenty Healthy Controls (HCs) using Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain Functional Connectivity (BFC) patterns. The functional connectivity index feature in EEG signals is computed using three different methods: Correlation (COR), Coherence (COH), and Phase Synchronization Index (PSI). Further, a new functional connectivity index feature is proposed using bispectral analysis. The experimental results indicate that the BFC change is significantly different among emotional states of PD patients compared with HC. Also, the emotional connectivity pattern classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier yielded the highest accuracy for the new bispectral functional connectivity index. The PD patients showed emotional impairments as demonstrated by a poor classification performance. This finding suggests that decrease in the functional connectivity indices during emotional stimulation in PD, indicating functional disconnections between cortical areas.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Fulltext Breast Self-Examination System Using Multifaceted Trustworthiness: Observational Study

Khana R, Mahinderjit Singh M, Damanhoori F, Mustaffa N

JMIR Med Inform, 2020 Sep 23;8(9):e21584.
PMID: 32965225 DOI: 10.2196/21584

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality among women worldwide. However, female patients often feel reluctant and embarrassed about meeting physicians in person to discuss their intimate body parts, and prefer to use social media for such interactions. Indeed, the number of patients and physicians interacting and seeking information related to breast cancer on social media has been growing. However, a physician may behave inappropriately on social media by sharing a patient's personal medical data excessively with colleagues or the public. Such an act would reduce the physician's trustworthiness from the patient's perspective. The multifaceted trust model is currently most commonly used for investigating social media interactions, which facilitates its enhanced adoption in the context of breast self-examination. The characteristics of the multifaceted trust model go beyond being personalized, context-dependent, and transitive. This model is more user-centric, which allows any user to evaluate the interaction process. Thus, in this study, we explored and evaluated use of the multifaceted trust model for breast self-examination as a more suitable trust model for patient-physician social media interactions in breast cancer screening.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the trustworthiness indicators that are suitable for a breast self-examination system, (2) design and propose a breast self-examination system, and (3) evaluate the multifaceted trustworthiness interaction between patients and physicians.
METHODS: We used a qualitative study design based on open-ended interviews with 32 participants (16 outpatients and 16 physicians). The interview started with an introduction to the research objective and an explanation of the steps on how to use the proposed breast self-examination system. The breast self-examination system was then evaluated by asking the patient to rate their trustworthiness with the physician after the consultation. The evaluation was also based on monitoring the activity in the chat room (interactions between physicians and patients) during daily meetings, weekly meetings, and the articles posted by the physician in the forum.
RESULTS: Based on the interview sessions with 16 physicians and 16 patients on using the breast self-examination system, honesty had a strong positive correlation (r=0.91) with trustworthiness, followed by credibility (r=0.85), confidence (r=0.79), and faith (r=0.79). In addition, belief (r=0.75), competency (r=0.73), and reliability (r=0.73) were strongly correlated with trustworthiness, with the lowest correlation found for reputation (r=0.72). The correlation among trustworthiness indicators was significant (P

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Fulltext Chronic restraint stress impairs sociability but not social recognition and spatial memoryin C57BL/6J mice

Zain MA, Pandy V, Majeed ABA, Wong WF, Mohamed Z

Exp Anim, 2019 Feb 26;68(1):113-124.
PMID: 30393276 DOI: 10.1538/expanim.18-0078

Chronic stress has been associated with impairment of memory, learning, and social cognition. In animal studies, chronic stress has been shown to impair rodent sociability behaviour which mimics social withdrawal as observed in depression patients. The effect of chronic stress on social recognition, however, is uncertain. Moreover, with reference to spatial learning and memory, the effect of chronic stress is dependent on the type of behavioural task: an appetitively or aversively motivated tasks. The effect of chronic stress was consistent in impairing spatial learning and memory in the appetitive task; however, the effect was inconsistent in an aversive task like the Morris water maze. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of chronic restraint stress on sociability and social recognition by using a modified protocol of the three-chamber paradigm and the effect of chronic restraint stress on spatial learning and memory by using the Morris water maze test in young adult C57BL/6J male mice. The present report also describes a modified protocol of the three-chamber paradigm. Our modification is based on measurement of sniffing behaviour, which is a direct social interaction that represents sociability. We used the chronic restraint stress paradigm for 6 h/day for 21 days to induce depression-like symptoms in male C57BL/6J mice which were validated by forced-swim test. We observed that the stressed group had impairments in their sociability behaviour but that social recognition was not affected. Furthermore, we confirmed that chronic stress produced no significant impairment in spatial learning and memory of the mice in the water maze.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations
Communication problems with psychiatric patients in the multilingual society of Sarawak

Schmidt KE

Psychiatry, 1965 Aug;28:229-33.
PMID: 14318932 DOI: 10.1080/00332747.1965.11023430
Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations*
Cross-Situational Self-Consistency in Nine Cultures: The Importance of Separating Influences of Social Norms and Distinctive Dispositions

Locke KD, Church AT, Mastor KA, Curtis GJ, Sadler P, McDonald K, et al.

Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 2017 Jul;43(7):1033-1049.
PMID: 28903706 DOI: 10.1177/0146167217704192

We assessed self-consistency (expressing similar traits in different situations) by having undergraduates in the United States ( n = 230), Australia ( n = 220), Canada ( n = 240), Ecuador ( n = 101), Mexico ( n = 209), Venezuela ( n = 209), Japan ( n = 178), Malaysia ( n = 254), and the Philippines ( n = 241) report the traits they expressed in four different social situations. Self-consistency was positively associated with age, well-being, living in Latin America, and not living in Japan; however, each of these variables showed a unique pattern of associations with various psychologically distinct sources of raw self-consistency, including cross-situationally consistent social norms and injunctions. For example, low consistency between injunctive norms and trait expressions fully explained the low self-consistency in Japan. In accord with trait theory, after removing normative and injunctive sources of consistency, there remained robust distinctive noninjunctive self-consistency (reflecting individuating personality dispositions) in every country, including Japan. The results highlight how clarifying the determinants and implications of self-consistency requires differentiating its distinctive, injunctive, and noninjunctive components.

Matched MeSH terms: Interpersonal Relations

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