cultural characteristics

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the French language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the three Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, interscale correlations and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A to...

Over the past 15-20 years, domestic cultivation of cannabis has been established in a number of European countries. New techniques have made such cultivation easier; however, the bulk of growers remain small-scale. In this study, we explore the factors that prevent small-scale growers from increasing their production. The study is based on 1 year of ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews conducted with 45 Norwegian cannabis growers, 10 of whom were growing on a large-scale and 35 on a small-scale. The study identifies five mechanisms that prevent small-scale indoor growers from going large-scale. First, large-scale operations involve a number of people, large sums of money, a high work-load and a high risk of detection, and thus demand a higher level of organizational skills than for small growing operations. Second, financial assets are needed to start a large 'grow-site'. Housing rent, electricity, equipment and nutrients are expensive. Third, to be able to sell...

SUMMARY Objective: Despite the progress in the implementation of health promotion programs in the workplace, there are no questionnaires in Brazil to assess the scope of health promotion interventions adopted and their scientific basis. This study aimed to translate into Brazilian Portuguese and culturally adapt the CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard (HSC) questionnaire. Method: The HSC has 100 questions grouped into twelve domains. The steps are as follows: translation, reconciliation, back-translation, review by expert panel, pretesting, and final revision. The convenience sample included 27 individuals from health insurance providers and companies of various sizes, types and industries in São Paulo. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The average age of the sample was 38 years, most of the subjects were female (21 of 27), and were responsible for programs to promote health in these workplaces. Most questions were above the minimum value of understanding set at 90...

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among the variables of the dietary consumption and the anthropometric measurements of Filipino Americans (FAs). The study sample consisted of 128 participants residing in the US who completed two questionnaires and biometric measurements. Strong positive correlations between the consumption of fat and sugar and body mass index (BM) among the participants were found. In contrast, the correlations between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and BMI were strongly negative. This study advances the limited body of knowledge on the dietary practices of FAs in the US.

Asian populations living in the United States share similar cultural values that influence their experiences with domestic violence. However, it is critical to recognize how differential cultural beliefs in the context of immigration and adjustment to life in the United States affect attitudes, interpretations, and response to domestic violence. This article discusses findings from community-based participatory action research that explores how Cambodian immigrant women talk about domestic violence, what forms of abuse contribute to domestic violence, and what strategies they use to cope with and respond to abuse in their lives. The richness of this research lies in the stories that immigrant women tell about their struggle and their strength in addressing domestic violence.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Muslim women in Pakistan. The impact of the initial diagnosis, culture, religion, and psychosocial and psychological aspects of the disease is not well established. This qualitative study examined the experience and coping strategies used by patients with breast cancer in relation to its impact on their physical, mental health, religious, and family issues. Thirty patients with breast cancer were interviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The patient's experience of breast cancer focused on the range of emotions felt throughout the illness trajectory, the importance of religion and family support on coping strategies used to manage the adverse effects of chemotherapy, and also the financial concerns. This is the first study to examine Pakistani Muslim women's views on the lived experience of breast cancer. This article provides clarification of the voiced experiences of women with breast cancer. The data not on...

This secondary analysis tested the reliability and validity of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) and the Outcome Expectations for Exercise (OEE) scales in 126 community dwelling, middle aged African American women. Social Cognitive Theory postulates self-efficacy is behavior age, gender and culture specific. Therefore, it is important to determine ifself-efficacy scales developed and tested in older Caucasian female adults are reliable and valid in middle aged, minority women. Cronbach's alpha and construct validity using hypothesis testing and confirmatory factor analysis supported the reliability and validity of the SEE and OEE scales in community dwelling, middle aged African American women.

Robert Kastenbaum was a man who helped reintroduce issues related to death, dying, and bereavement to academic, clinical, and general discourse. This article, devoted to an encounter with the observance of mourning custom and ritual in the Jewish tradition, continues the dialogue in this journal that Bob founded. The article utilizes the Two-Track Model of Bereavement to address the Jewish tradition's structuring of the loss experience. After a brief introduction, I present a schematic presentation of some of the issues operant in grief and mourning for the believer. This is followed by two responses to loss that portray the pain of loss in the tradition. The article goes on to consider the Jewish time cycle of response to loss-from preburial Aninut, to Shiva, the first week, to Shloshim, the first month, to Shanah, the first year, to the expectations for encounters across the life cycle. The Yizkor and Kaddish are also considered. In the Jewish tradition, alongside attention to...

This paper examines some of the traditional texts that deal with sexuality, birth control and childbirth in the orthodox Jewish tradition and presents the rules governing these areas. For instance, a married woman should avoid being alone with a male physician unless other people are in earshot and have access to the room. A husband and wife must separate during the woman's menses and for the first 7 days afterward. Contraception is permitted if childbearing would endanger a woman's life or health. Termination of pregnancy is also permitted to preserve a woman's health, including her mental health. During childbirth the health of the mother is primary and supercedes all other rules or laws, including those of Sabbath observance. In general, orthodox Jewish women try to live as much as possible within the framework of Halacha. These customs are examined as examples of the need for sensitivity to cultural norms that affect the behaviour of different ethnic groups.

To account for male preferences for female body weight following a consistent socio-economic pattern, Nelson and Morrison (2005) proposed a social-cognitive model based on the individual experience of resource scarcity. We replicated their studies showing that calorific dissatisfaction can influence preference for female body weight using a different dependent variable, namely photographic stimuli of women with known body weight and shape. Using this revised methodology, we found that operationalized intra-individual resource scarcity affects preferences for body weight: 30 hungry male participants preferred figures with a higher body weight and rated as more attractive heavier figures than 31 satiated male participants. Hungrier men were also less likely to be influenced by cues for body shape, supporting extant cross-cultural studies on female physical attractiveness. These findings corroborate those of Nelson and Morrison (2005) and are discussed in terms of how cultural contexts shape individual psychological experience as predicted by the theory of mutual constitution.

Past research has shown that Filipino cancer patients report lower levels of quality of life (QoL) than other ethnic groups. One possible explanation for this is that Filipinos do not define QoL in the same manner as others, resulting in bias in their assessments. Hence, Filipinos would not necessarily have lower QoL. Item response theory methods were used to assess differential item functioning (DIF) in the quality of life (measured by the EORTC QLQ-C30) of cancer patients across four ethnic groups (Caucasian, Filipino, Hawaiian, and Japanese). The sample consisted of 359 cancer patients. Results showed the presence of DIF on several items, indicating ethnic differences in the assessment of quality of life. Relative to the Caucasian and Japanese groups, items related to physical functioning, cognitive functioning, social functioning, nausea and vomiting, and financial difficulties exhibited DIF for Filipinos. On these items Filipinos exhibited either higher or lower QoL scores, eve...