Real-life closeness of social media contacts and depressive symptoms among university students

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the association between degree of real-life closeness of social media (SM) contacts and depressive symptoms. Participants: Students ages 18–30 (N = 1124) were recruited in August 2016. Methods: Participants completed an online survey assessing SM use and depression. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between real-life closeness of SM contacts and depressive symptoms. Results: After controlling for covariates, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had no face-to-face relationship was associated with a 9% increase in odds of depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13). However, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had a close face-to-face relationship was associated with a 7% decrease in depressive symptoms (AOR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89–0.97). Conclusions: Having no in-person relationship with SM contacts is associated with increased depressive symptoms; however, having close in-person relationships with SM contacts is associated with decreased depressive symptoms.     

A Further Opinion on Reimagining Nursing Homes

A commentary of the article discussing the possible reimagining of long-term care (LTC) is provided. The reimagining article examines how to diminish the role of nursing homes in the LTC system. The text is provocative. It is also thought-provoking. In this commentary I provide a further opinion that we could do better within the current system using the current resources.     

Staffing-Related Deficiency Citations in Nursing Homes

There is evidence that staffing characteristics influence quality of care in nursing homes. Federal and state surveyors conduct inspections of homes to assess their compliance with regulatory standards, including requirements related to staffing. Deficiency citations are issued when these standards are not met. This article examines the relationship between operational, facility, and market characteristics and organizational performance measured as staffing-related deficiency citations. Online Survey Certification of Automated Records (OSCAR) data from 2000 through 2007 were used with multinomial logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with deficiency citations for staffing. Chain members and facilities with poor quality of care were more likely to receive deficiency citations for staffing. Greater bed count and competition between nursing homes were associated with a decreased likelihood of deficiency citations for staffing. Staffing-related deficiencies within nursing homes vary according to various operational, facility, and market characteristics.     

The Nursing Home Compare Report Card: Consumers' Use and Understanding

The Nursing Home Compare report card provides information on the World Wide Web about quality measures for almost every nursing home in the United States. In this research, we first examined whether consumers were using Nursing Home Compare. Second, we examined whether consumers could accurately interpret the quality information given in Nursing Home Compare. Data were collected from 4754 family members of nursing home residents. A comprehension index was used to examine whether the information contained in Nursing Home Compare for each quality measure was understood by family members. We found that 31% of these consumers used the Internet in choosing a nursing home, and 12% recalled using Nursing Home Compare. We also found that, in general, the comprehension index scores were high, indicating good understanding. Simply having the Nursing Home Compare report card available does not mean that it will be used, nor does it mean that it can influence consumers in any meaningful way. The findings show that consumers understand Nursing Home Compare information, and approximately 12% currently access the Web site.     

WHAT IS THE MULTITUDE?

Nicholas Brown and Imre Szeman continue their conversation with Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. (See ‘The Global Coliseum: On Empire’ in Cultural Studies, 16.2, (March 2002), p. 177–192). In this new interview they press the authors of Empire and Multitude on questions that have arisen both out of their own involvement with the theoretical issues generated by Empire and from new areas opened up by Multitude. Why is the multitude not a class? How can the unity of a political project be maintained in the multiplicity of the multitude? Is democracy still a project for the future? Can a political subject constitute itself outside the structure of sovereignty? In other words, what is the multitude?     

Sorcery,Theft and Affinity: The Estrangement of Intimacy in Eastern Java

Research has called attention to the importance placed on incorporating the ‘Other’— turning outsiders into insiders—particularly in local and rural contexts of Southeast Asia. This can be seen in a variety of cultural phenomena such as origin myths, marriage patterns and even home design. Rather than focusing on the way strangers are included, in this article I analyse the converse phenomenon: estrangement among family, neighbours and friends. In Tegalgaring in far east Java, house design and a relaxed trespass etiquette welcome passers-by; nevertheless, while front doors are left open, bedrooms and cupboards remain locked. When something is presumed stolen, it is either said to be ‘missing’ or attributed to ‘outsiders’. Suspicion, however, falls on those who are nearest. Sorcery is thought, in theory, to work over long distances. Yet in ‘actual’ cases, the ‘victim’ is often the alleged sorcerer's neighbour, family member or friend. I contextualise these phenomena in terms of other research from the region and argue that, while the inclusion of the ‘Other’ is crucial, the in-group estrangement is also significant.     

Indigenous Australian population projections: problems and prospects

According to estimates from the 2006 Census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians made up 2.5 % of the total Australian population. However, the focus of research and policy debate on Indigenous Australians far exceeds their population size for reasons of history, socio-economics, geography and demography. This has led to a need for accurate population projections of the population. In this paper, we outline a number of issues related to Indigenous population projections. These include the nature of self-identification; the impact of particular policy changes; significant differences in demographic parameters; and high rates of exogamy, especially in urban areas. We also document the relative accuracy of past and current population projections. In the final section of the paper we outline a research agenda that has the potential to lead to new and better Indigenous population projections.     

Comparison of household-survey estimates with projections of mortality and orphan numbers in sub-Saharan Africa in the era of HIV/AIDS

The United Nations publishes estimates of HIV prevalence, AIDS mortality, and orphan numbers for all countries of the world. It is important to assess the validity of these model-based estimates since they underpin much policy concerned with care and prevention. Household surveys that ask questions about the survival of children's parents (orphanhood) offer an independent source of data with which these estimates can be compared. Survey estimates of maternal and paternal orphans are significantly lower than model estimates for 40 surveys in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (p < 0.001, p = 0.002). This is probably because adult mortality from causes other than AIDS is lower than assumed in the models, although under-reporting of orphanhood in surveys may also play a role. Reducing adult mortality from causes other than AIDS brings the model estimates into close agreement with the surveys. This suggests that the fraction of orphans attributable to AIDS is greater than estimated previously.