The purposes of this 3-phase study were 1) to identify salient individual variabilities and music characteristics associated with music therapy interventions for pain management, 2) to explore current pain management practices of music therapists, 3) to delineate any differences in general musical taste (trait) and context-specific music preference (state), as well as preferred music characteristics in healthy adults and cancer patients, 4) to investigate the contributions of individual variabilities, personality, behavioral coping styles, and pain levels in predicting changes from trait to state preferences and preferred music characteristics under various pain conditions, and 5) to investigate any differences in music preference patterns between healthy adults and cancer patients. In Phase I, 97 music therapists completed an online questionnaire to provide quantitative and qualitative data regarding the saliency of individual variabilities and music characteristics in determining the choice of music for pain management interventions, as well as their current practices with adult populations in clinical settings. In Phase II, 50 healthy adults (33 females, 17 males) ranging in age from 40 to 70 years (M = 57.04 ± 7.99) completed a battery of tests and questionnaires, including a Participant Intake Form (demographic information, music background, listening habits), an adapted Short Test of Music Preference – Revised (STOMP-R-A), a Music Characteristics Test, the Miller Behavioral Style Scale – abbreviated (MBSS-abbreviated), and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3). The STOMP-R-A measured the participants’ trait and state preferences for 23 music genres. The Music Characteristics Test involved a music listening portion for participants to rate their preferences for various music characteristics. The MBSS-abbreviated measured behavioral coping styles and the NEO-FFI-3 measured the five dimensions of personality. In Phase III, 35 cancer patients (24 females, 11 males) ranging in age from 42 to 70 years (M = 57.71 ± 7.07) completed the same measurement tools as the ones used in Phase II, as well as the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire–2 (SF-MPQ-2), which measured ratings for chronic, acute, and neuropathic pain. A one-way analysis of variance was used to test for response bias amongst the music therapists in Phase I. No response bias was found. Responses were reported as sums and converted to percentages of respondents for each selected response. Qualitative responses were analyzed using open coding and thematic development techniques. An intercoder was recruited to authenticate reliability for the qualitative findings. Music therapists identified age, ethnicity, culture, and religious preferences as important individual variabilities, and tempo, rhythmic complexity, and dynamics as salient music characteristics in their ratings. The results from Phase I informed the methodology for the next two phases of this study. Participants in Phases II and III were tested individually. The paired t-test was used to determine differences between trait and state music preferences across all 23 genres. The results indicated significant decreases from trait to state music preferences across music genres in both healthy adult and cancer patient groups. Calculations of the chi-square statistic and the McNemar’s test were used to detect differences between trait music preference and state music preference specific to each of the 23 genres. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the contributions of demographic factors, personality, behavioral coping style, and pain to changes from trait to state preferences and preferred music characteristics under four pain conditions. In Phase II, age, gender, and neuroticism predicted changes in trait-state preference for music genres; and gender and behavioral coping styles predicted changes in preferences for music characteristics under low-acute, high-acute, low-chronic, and high-chronic pain conditions. In Phase III, neuroticism predicted changes in trait-state preference for music genres; and age predicted changes in preferences for music characteristics under the four pain conditions. The independent t-test was used to determine differences between healthy adults’ and cancer patients’ ratings of the importance of music, music background, and music listening habits. No significant differences were found between the two groups. Healthy adults and cancer patients were most familiar with country music and rated oldies and rock as their most preferred music genres. Healthy adults reported familiarity with and preferences for greater number of genres compared to cancer patients. In general, both groups indicated decreased preferences for music under pain conditions. The findings from this study emphasized the importance of considerations for the interactions of trait-state music preferences, individual variabilities, and music characteristics as a paradigm for context-specific pain management in adult clinical settings.

With the ongoing innovation of production technology, the quality and properties of NoteBook (NB) are more advanced, and the price is getting lower. Due to the low price and the rising of Chinese consumption level, the demand of NB is progressively increasing. On the other hand, compared with other items, NB is a high unit price item. Therefore, the brand name of products becomes a factor for consideration in consumer purchases. It also leads to the consequence of NB industrial concentration. According to MIC¡¦s report, the global market share of top 5 NB brand (Acer, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Lenevo, and Toshiba) is up to 74% in 2010. Due to the circulation in information technology, NB functions and services provided by brand companies become similar. Under this condition, the discrepancy between different brand NBs is shortened. In the consumer-oriented market, only consumer satisfaction cannot create the consumer loyalty. Despite the consumer satisfaction, brand companies should consider other factors that affect the brand loyalty. The research is to discuss the factors affecting brand loyalty from the aspects of involvement, using habits, and demographic variables. In addition, statistic analysis is based on collecting questionnaires, in which the analysis includes factor analysis, regression analysis, and ANOVA analysis. The research found that: 1. Consumer satisfaction still affects brand value ,and be a essential factor of brand loyalty. 2. Regarding to involvement, product pleasure will be factor between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty; others will be not. 3. Using habit and Demographic Statistic will be factors between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

The major problems that this study addressed were the identification of group differences on masculinity, femininity, monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, monthly frequency of masturbation, and marital satisfaction, as well as the investigation of which predictor variables account for a significant proportion of the criterion variables monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, monthly frequency of masturbation, and marital satisfaction. BEM Sex Roles Inventory-Short Form (BSRI-SF), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), , and Demographic Information Form were administered 200 married individuals. To test the hypotheses of the study, ANOVA and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analyses were conducted. Results revealed that, gender differentiated the groups on masculinity, femininity, monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, and monthly frequency of masturbation. However, no difference was found for marital satisfaction. Apart from that, gender, frequency of sexual intercourse, and age found to be the predictors of monthly frequency of sexual fantasy. Another finding was that, gender, the belief that masturbation is not socially accepted, marital satisfaction, and femininity significantly predicted monthly frequency of masturbation. Lastly, results revealed that monthly frequency of sexual intercourse and monthly frequency of masturbation contributed to the prediction of marital satisfaction. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cigarette smoking and socio-demographic variables based on the empirical literature and the primitive theories in the field. Two regression approaches, logistic regression and linear multiple regression, were conducted on the two most recent Arizona Adult Tobacco Surveys to test the hypothesized models. The results showed that cigarette smokers in Arizona are mainly residents who have not completed a four-year college degree, who are unemployed, White, non-Hispanic, or young to middle-aged adults. Among the socio-demographic predictors of interest, education is the most important variable in identifying cigarette smokers, even though the predictive power of these socio-demographic variables is small. Practical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.

Participation in campus leisure and recreation programmes can provide university students with various benefits, but the provision of effective leisure programmes are complicated by the changes that have taken place in the demographic composition of the student population attending South African universities. Increases in the proportion of black students attending university, and decreases in the proportion of white students means that current students possibly exhibit leisure behaviours that differ from those of their predecessors. With eleven official languages in South Africa, the language diversity among students is a further issue with which leisure professionals have to contend. Students also come from different economic backgrounds, posing additional challenges to universities’ leisure service providers. Since demographic factors, including culturally based perceptions and values, ethnic identity, language, religious beliefs and family structure (Outley & Witt, 2006:112) may influence leisure behaviour and preferences, it is important for leisure professionals to understand how these factors influence the perceptions students have of leisure. For purposes of this study, leisure perceptions are conceptualised to include leisure meanings, leisure experiences and leisure constraints. Due to the lack of research regarding leisure within a South African context (Goslin, 2003:39; Wegner et al. 2006:249) the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between demographic variables and leisure perceptions of selected South African first-year university students. The study utilised a once off crosssectional research design, using three research instruments, the Leisure Meanings Inventory (LMI), Leisure Experience Battery for Young Adults (LEBYA) and the leisure constraint questionnaire by Raymore et al. (1993:104). An availability sample was used that comprised 344 first-year students in academic programmes related to sport, leisure and recreation studies from six South African universities. Data analysis included confirmatory factor analyses, t-tests, ANOVA and 2-way ANOVA. For leisure meanings, results indicate that female students are more likely to see leisure as Exercising Choice and Achieving Fulfilment than are male students. Home language also influences leisure meanings, with Afrikaans students seeing leisure as Escaping Pressure, whereas English-speaking students associate it with Passing Time. Students staying in private accommodation associated leisure more with Passing Time than those in university hostels. Furthermore, students that are in a relationship are less likely to see leisure as Achieving Fulfilment than those that are not. For leisure experiences, white students are more aware of leisure benefits and opportunities than are black students, and experience less boredom and distress during their leisure. Additionally, white students are more aware of leisure benefits and opportunities than are Coloured students. Seeing that a lack of awareness of leisure participation benefits and opportunities often are associated with boredom, which in turn is associated with delinquent behaviour, the possibility exists that increased awareness of leisure may assist in combating delinquent behaviour among students. In terms of language, Afrikaans-speaking students and students that speak African languages experienced more challenge in their leisure than their English-speaking counterparts. This result may be either because of ethnic factors, such as traditions or customs associated with specific languages or because of language, per se, as proposed by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. With regard to leisure constraints, black students experienced greater interpersonal constraints than did white students, while white students experienced greater structural constraints than did black students. Additionally, Indian students experienced more intrapersonal constraints than did black students. Students staying in university hostels experience less structural constraints than those in private accommodation. Lastly, students from rural areas/informal settlements experienced less intrapersonal and structural constraints than students that grew up in towns and cities. The study is the first of its kind in South Africa, providing a new insight into leisure, and addressing the paucity of research within the South African context. Recommendations include the implementation of comprehensive leisure education programmes to inform students of the benefits of leisure and the opportunities available to them. In so doing, students can be assisted in negotiating constraints and in developing more complex leisure meanings. In order to meet the challenges, leisure professionals need to know how student diversity affects leisure programming; hence training of current leisure practitioners in the form of short learning programmes is suggested. Future research should include: a) modifications to the research instruments to accommodate the South African population and to increase reliability, b) replicating the study on a broader student population to provide a more detailed picture of leisure perception at South African universities, and c) using a mixed-method research design, including both quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering data. / Thesis (PhD (Recreation Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Participation in campus leisure and recreation programmes can provide university students with various benefits, but the provision of effective leisure programmes are complicated by the changes that have taken place in the demographic composition of the student population attending South African universities. Increases in the proportion of black students attending university, and decreases in the proportion of white students means that current students possibly exhibit leisure behaviours that differ from those of their predecessors. With eleven official languages in South Africa, the language diversity among students is a further issue with which leisure professionals have to contend. Students also come from different economic backgrounds, posing additional challenges to universities’ leisure service providers. Since demographic factors, including culturally based perceptions and values, ethnic identity, language, religious beliefs and family structure (Outley & Witt, 2006:112) may influence leisure behaviour and preferences, it is important for leisure professionals to understand how these factors influence the perceptions students have of leisure. For purposes of this study, leisure perceptions are conceptualised to include leisure meanings, leisure experiences and leisure constraints. Due to the lack of research regarding leisure within a South African context (Goslin, 2003:39; Wegner et al. 2006:249) the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between demographic variables and leisure perceptions of selected South African first-year university students. The study utilised a once off crosssectional research design, using three research instruments, the Leisure Meanings Inventory (LMI), Leisure Experience Battery for Young Adults (LEBYA) and the leisure constraint questionnaire by Raymore et al. (1993:104). An availability sample was used that comprised 344 first-year students in academic programmes related to sport, leisure and recreation studies from six South African universities. Data analysis included confirmatory factor analyses, t-tests, ANOVA and 2-way ANOVA. For leisure meanings, results indicate that female students are more likely to see leisure as Exercising Choice and Achieving Fulfilment than are male students. Home language also influences leisure meanings, with Afrikaans students seeing leisure as Escaping Pressure, whereas English-speaking students associate it with Passing Time. Students staying in private accommodation associated leisure more with Passing Time than those in university hostels. Furthermore, students that are in a relationship are less likely to see leisure as Achieving Fulfilment than those that are not. For leisure experiences, white students are more aware of leisure benefits and opportunities than are black students, and experience less boredom and distress during their leisure. Additionally, white students are more aware of leisure benefits and opportunities than are Coloured students. Seeing that a lack of awareness of leisure participation benefits and opportunities often are associated with boredom, which in turn is associated with delinquent behaviour, the possibility exists that increased awareness of leisure may assist in combating delinquent behaviour among students. In terms of language, Afrikaans-speaking students and students that speak African languages experienced more challenge in their leisure than their English-speaking counterparts. This result may be either because of ethnic factors, such as traditions or customs associated with specific languages or because of language, per se, as proposed by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. With regard to leisure constraints, black students experienced greater interpersonal constraints than did white students, while white students experienced greater structural constraints than did black students. Additionally, Indian students experienced more intrapersonal constraints than did black students. Students staying in university hostels experience less structural constraints than those in private accommodation. Lastly, students from rural areas/informal settlements experienced less intrapersonal and structural constraints than students that grew up in towns and cities. The study is the first of its kind in South Africa, providing a new insight into leisure, and addressing the paucity of research within the South African context. Recommendations include the implementation of comprehensive leisure education programmes to inform students of the benefits of leisure and the opportunities available to them. In so doing, students can be assisted in negotiating constraints and in developing more complex leisure meanings. In order to meet the challenges, leisure professionals need to know how student diversity affects leisure programming; hence training of current leisure practitioners in the form of short learning programmes is suggested. Future research should include: a) modifications to the research instruments to accommodate the South African population and to increase reliability, b) replicating the study on a broader student population to provide a more detailed picture of leisure perception at South African universities, and c) using a mixed-method research design, including both quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering data. / Thesis (PhD (Recreation Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Tyrimo tikslas - įvertinti vaikų su klausos negalia brandumą mokyklai, su tuo susijusius socialinius-demografinius veiksnius ir sąsajas su mokymosi sėkme pirmoje klasėje. Tyrime dalyvavo 16 iš maždaug 24 parengiamosios ir pirmos klasės mokinių iš trijų kurčiųjų ir neprigirdinčiųjų ugdymo centrų Lietuvoje: 10 parengiamosios ir 6 pirmos klasės mokiniai. Jų amžiaus vidurkis - 7,5 metų. 11 vaikų buvo kurti, 5 - neprigirdintys; 11 vaikų tėvai taip pat turi klausos sutrikimus, 5 - tėvai girdintys; 11 vaikų gerai kalba gestų kalba, 5 - prastai; visi vaikai lankė ikimokyklines įstaigas. Tiriamieji dalyvavo dviejų sesijų individualiuose brandumo mokyklai vertinimuose, kurių metu buvo vertinamas intelektinis brandumas (intelektinis lygis pagal Raven spalvotųjų progresuojančių matricų testą, dėmesingumas, žodinė ir vaizdinė trumpalaikė atmintis, matematinis suvokimas), fizinis pasirengimas ir socialinis-emocinis brandumas pagal Galių ir sunkumų klausimyną. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad vaikų su klausos negalia intelektiniam brandumui didėjant, jų rezultatai kitose vertinamose pasirengimo mokyklai srityse taip pat gerėja, ypač vaikų žodinė atmintis, dėmesingumas, fizinis ir socialinis-emocinis brandumas. Klausos negalią turinčių tėvų vaikai, turintys klausos sutrikimų, yra nežymiai geriau pasirengę mokyklai nei girdinčių tėvų vaikai, turintys klausos sutrikimų. Gerai gestų kalba kalbantys vaikai pasižymi aukštesniu intelektiniu, matematiniu ir fiziniu brandumu, dėmesingumu ir geresniais... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the study was to assess school readiness of hearing impaired children, its relationship with socio-demographic factors and coherence with successful learning in the first grade. In this research participated 16 children from about 24 who are studying in 5 deaf and hard of hearing educational centres: 10 was preschoolers and 6 first grade students. Age average: 7.5 years. In this group was: 11 deaf and 5 hard of hearing pupils, 11 children whose parents were hearing impaired and 5 whose parents hearing, 11 children who are good sign language users and 5 who poorly can speak it. All of pupils attended kindergartens. Children participated in two individual assessments of readiness for school in intellectual maturity (intellectual level according to Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices test, attentiveness, verbal and visual short-term memory, mathematical comprehension), physical readiness and social-emotional maturity according to teachers' Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The results of the study showed that hearing impaired children' increased intellectual maturity is coherent with better results in all other readiness for school areas, especially verbal memory, attentiveness, physical and social-emotional maturity. Children whose parents are hearing impaired are a bit better at readiness for school than children whose parents are hearing. Children who are good at sign language achieved better results in intellectual maturity, mathematical comprehension... [to full text]

The purpose of the present study is twofold: First, to assess to what extent gender, age, body mass index, weight satisfaction, body satisfaction and coping styles predict disordered eating attitudes of Turkish university students. Second, to examine whether there is a significant difference between female and male university students&rsquo / expert preference in case of a weight problem and importance of significant other&rsquo / s opinion regarding their weight. Three instruments- Eating Attitudes Test, Coping Styles Inventory, and a Demographic Data Form were administered to 525 students from four (3 state, 1 private) universities of Ankara. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well emotion focused coping, problem focused coping, gender, age, body mass index, weight satisfaction and body satisfaction predicted the disordered eating attitudes of Turkish university students. A two way contingency table analysis was conducted to evaluate whether there was a significant difference between female and male university students regarding their expert preference in case of a weight problem, and whether there was a significant difference between female and male university students with respect to the importance of significant other&rsquo / s opinion regarding their weight. The variables found to be most predictive of disordered eating attitudes and entered the regression equation were weight satisfaction, gender, emotion focused coping, age, and body mass index. Of the five variables, weight satisfaction was strongly negatively related to disordered eating attitudes. Results indicated that proportions of female students preferring dietitian and fitness expert in case of a weight problem were nearly same, whereas male students prefered fitness expert, medical doctor and dietitian, respectively. Regarding the importance of significant other&rsquo / s opinion in relation to weight, there were no significant differences between two groups. Opposite sex friend&rsquo / s opinion in relation to weight was found to be the most important source for both female and male students.

An increased understanding of resilience may determine how human psychological development can result in positive outcomes despite adversarial situations. However, current studies have not provided a relevant predictive model that can adequately predict resilience, particularly among young adults exposed to domestic violence. Based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, the purpose of this quantitative noncomparative study was to examine whether domestic violence, age, gender, ethnicity, individual emotional and physical abilities, types of domestic violence exposure, and frequency of domestic violence exposure could adequately predict resilience among young adults. Quantitative data were collected from 118 young adults in the Midsouth region of the United States. The data were collected via a questionnaire and analyzed using a stepwise multiple linear regression. The results of the analysis were significant, indicating that the frequency of domestic violence exposure was a significant negative predictor of resiliency. These results suggested a need for further examination of environmental protective factors, according to Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, that may affect resilience development. By discovering factors that predict resilience, whether positive or negative, stakeholders can target interventions and develop policies that can eradicate the harmful social and psychological influences of domestic violence on children.

In psychiatric settings, the use of seclusion and/or restraints can be emotionally and psychologically traumatizing for patients. Patients often experience these interventions as inhumane and humiliating, and such interventions can have physical and mental adverse effects and in some cases can be fatal. This study examined the role of demographic, clinical, and hospital variables in predicting seclusion and/or restraint episodes in adult psychiatric inpatients. A total of 395 patients were included in the study. Adult psychiatric inpatients previously restrained (n = 91) were compared to psychiatric inpatients never restrained (n = 304). A binary logistic regression research design was used to examine the relationship of demographic variables, clinical variables, and hospital variables on the likelihood of being placed in seclusion or restraints. The results yielded age as a significant predictor for patients being restrained. Also, individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder were less likely to experience a seclusion and/or restraint event than patients diagnosed with depressive disorder or within the schizophrenia spectrum. In addition, findings suggest that adult psychiatric inpatients that experienced restraint episodes were restrained within the 1st month of admission, during the weekday and during the 1st shift. In summary, given the findings from this study, knowledge of risk factors that precede patient restraint could enhance education and provide staff with information necessary to meet the clinical needs of the psychiatric inpatient population. Research indicates that the use of seclusion and restraint has decreased followed by implementation of educational programs designed to help staff assess patient clinical care needs and develop more therapeutically appropriate alternatives (Bower et al., 2003). By being aware of possible risk factors associated with seclusion and/or restraint, mental health providers can use early intervention and prevention strategies to reduce the use of seclusion and/or restraint. This would provide safer environments for mental health patients receiving treatment.