Uncovering Hidden Media Framings in Generic Communication Competence Assessments: Is the Face-To-Face Context the Default Framing?

Dispositional communication competencies can be assessed in (a) a generic form that does not include any reference to a particular medium of interaction or in (b) a communication medium-specific version. To date, little is known about the specific media that individuals use as a reference and the weights they assign to them when responding to generic communication items - an important research gap because the use of diverse communication media has risen considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on media theories, two hypotheses were derived: Generic ratings contain a "hidden" face-to-face (FtF) communication framing that is dominant in the cognitive processing (media naturalness perspective) versus media are equally weighted in the mental aggregate of respondents (adaptation perspective). According to a preregistered study plan, generic and medium-specific communication items were assessed to investigate these hypotheses (referencing FtF, videoconferencing, chat, and e-mail interaction contexts). Training (n = 200) and test (n = 389) datasets were analyzed using latent variable modeling. Results indicated that generic ratings have a strong hidden FtF framing. These hidden framings impact the predictive power of the competencies to explain communication criteria (i.e. communication satisfaction). Exploratory analyses indicated that individual differences in media experience may affect the framings.

Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nursing Education: A National Study of Prelicensure RN Programs.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on prelicensure nursing education, leading to widespread disruptions that may have implications for nursing students' learning and engagement outcomes. Understanding how the rapid shift to online and simulation-based teaching methods has affected new graduates' clinical preparedness is critical to ensure patient safety moving forward. Purpose: To assess the impact of institutional, academic, and demographic characteristics on prelicensure nursing students' academic, initial postgraduation, and early career outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods longitudinal study focused on prelicensure registered nurse (RN) students entering the core of their didactic and clinical nursing coursework during the pandemic. This study uses a combination of real-time student and faculty self-report data, including externally validated instruments, within and end-of-program standardized test scores, and focus group findings. Various statistical methods, ranging from simpler descriptive and non-parametric methods to Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) models and detailed textual analysis, are applied to assess student, faculty, and institution-level data. Results: The final sample includes more than 1,100 student and faculty participants affiliated with 51 prelicensure RN programs located across 27 states. Leveraging more than 4,000 course observations collected from fall 2020 to spring 2022 and supplemented by the rich personal narratives of over 60 focus group participants, this study illuminates the breadth, scale, and ever-evolving nature of prelicensure RN programs' efforts to maintain the continuity of nursing students' education during the public health crisis. In doing so, it captures the many ways in which nursing administrators, faculty, and students sought to address the unparalleled challenges they confronted on a day-to-day basis. In particular, the findings provide critical insights into the efficacy of the changes nursing programs made to their course delivery formats to adjust to the confluence of rapidly evolving federal, state, and private restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19. Conclusion: This study stands as the most comprehensive assessment of prelicensure nursing education in the United States since the onset of COVID-19. It extends knowledge by linking potential deficiencies in students' didactic and clinical education during the pandemic and their early career preparedness, clinical competence, and the patient safety implications therein.

The Surprise of Underestimation: Analyzing the Effects and Predictors of the Accuracy of Estimated Smartphone Use

Smartphone usage had often been measured using self-reported time estimates. Due to the limitations of such self-reports (e.g., effects of social desirability or limited memory performance), this type of measurement had often been criticized. Users tended to overestimate or underestimate their screen time. The goal of the current study was to examine the accuracy of estimated screen time, identify predictors of this accuracy and explore the impact of accuracy feedback on users’ well-being and their motivation to limit future smartphone use. In an online survey N = 153 participants (68.6% female) were asked about their well-being, mindfulness, motivation for future limitations of smartphone use and to estimate their smartphone screen time. Moreover, objective screen time was measured with the help of built-in applications: Digital Wellbeing (Android) and Screen Time (iOS). The analyses showed that significantly more subjects underestimated themselves than overestimated themselves. After being provided with feedback on the accuracy of their screen time estimations, participants reported their well-being and their motivation for smartphone limitation, again. Results showed that objective screen time, compulsive phone use and mindfulness did not predict the accuracy of screen time estimations. Feedback on estimation accuracy did not affect limitation motivation but (partially) well-being. The perceived impact of Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected both well-being and limitation motivation. The present paper interprets and relates the results to research in this area and derives implications for future research. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Reporting on one's behavior: a survey experiment on the nonvalidity of self-reported COVID-19 hygiene-relevant routine behaviors

Surveys based on self-reported hygiene-relevant routine behaviors have played a crucial role in policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, using anchoring to test validity in a randomized controlled survey experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate that asking people to self-report on the frequency of routine behaviors are prone to significant measurement error and systematic bias. Specifically, we find that participants across age, gender, and political allegiance report higher (lower) frequencies of COVID-19-relevant behaviors when provided with a higher (lower) anchor. The results confirm that such self-reports should not be regarded as behavioral data and should primarily be used to inform policy decisions if better alternatives are not available. To this end, we discuss the use of anchoring as a validity test relative to self-reported behaviors as well as viable alternatives to self-reports when seeking to behaviorally inform policy decisions.

Beneficial Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training on the Well-Being of a Female Sample during the First Total Lockdown Due to COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy.

The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown have been widely recognized as traumatic events that pose threats to psychological well-being. Recent studies reported that during such traumatic events, women tend to be at greater risk than men for developing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Several studies reported that a mindfulness-based stress reduction protocol (MBSR) provides useful skills for dealing with traumatic events. In our study, a sample of Italian females received an 8-week MBSR course plus 6 weeks of video support for meditation practice during the first total lockdown in Italy. We assessed the participants with questionnaires before and after this period to investigate their mindfulness skills, psychological well-being, post-traumatic growth, and psychological flexibility. After the intervention, the meditators group reported improvement in measures associated with self-acceptance, purpose in life, and relation to others compared to the control group. Furthermore, our results showed that participants with greater mindfulness scores showed high levels of psychological flexibility, which in turn was positively associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. We concluded that the MBSR could support psychological well-being, at least in female subjects, even during an unpredictable adverse event, such as the COVID-19 lockdown, by reinforcing key psychological aspects.

Positive Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Mental Health of Female Teachers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy.

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent public health measures were shown to impact negatively on people's mental health. In particular, women were reported to be at higher risk than men of developing symptoms of stress/anxiety/depression, and resilience was considered a key factor for positive mental health outcomes. In the present study, a sample of Italian female teachers (n = 66, age: 51.5 ± 7.9 years) was assessed with self-report instruments one month before and one month after the start of the Covid-19 lockdown: mindfulness skills, empathy, personality profiles, interoceptive awareness, psychological well-being, emotional distress and burnout levels were measured. Meanwhile, they received an 8-week Mindfulness-Oriented Meditation (MOM) course, through two group meetings and six individual video-lessons. Based on baseline personality profiles, analyses of variance were performed in a low-resilience (LR, n = 32) and a high-resilience (HR, n = 26) group. The LR and HR groups differed at baseline in most of the self-report measures. Pre-post MOM significant improvements were found in both groups in anxiety, depression, affective empathy, emotional exhaustion, psychological well-being, interoceptive awareness, character traits and mindfulness levels. Improvements in depression and psychological well-being were higher in the LR vs. HR group. We conclude that mindfulness-based training can effectively mitigate the psychological negative consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak, helping in particular to restore well-being in the most vulnerable individuals.