Assessing the Impact of Technology Use, Social Engagement, Emotional Regulation, and Sleep Quality Among Undergraduate Students in Jordan: Examining the Mediating Effect of Perceived and Academic Stress.

The quality of sleep is affected by several psychological factors. University students experience different types of stress and develop various strategies to cope with it. This study assesses the impact of technology use, social engagement, emotional regulation, and sleep quality among undergraduate students in Jordan, while examining the mediating effect of perceived and academic stress. A convenience sample of 308 undergraduate students was selected from the University of Jordan. The results indicated that the study model was fit, with significant direct negative impacts of social engagement, time management, and emotional regulation on perceived stress. Additionally, there was a significant direct negative relationship between technology use, time management, and emotional regulation on academic stress. The results show indirect significant standardized effects of social engagement, time management, and emotional regulation on the quality of sleep through the mediation of perceived stress.

Translation, cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the SF-6D measure of health-related quality of life for use in Arabic-Speaking countries.

BACKGROUND: The SF-6D is a generic, six-dimensional health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measure derived from a selection of items from the SF-36. OBJECTIVES: To translate, culturally adapt and validate the SF-6D for use in Arabic-speaking countries. METHODS: The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) methodology was followed. Two forward translations, one consensus and one backward translation were undertaken. Difficulties encountered were categorized as grammatical, idiomatic, semantic/conceptual, and cultural. The content validity of the final version was tested and Cronbach's alpha test of internal consistency was used for assessing reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), was also used to assess construct validity and to test a pre-specified relationship of observed measures. RESULTS: Minor changes were made to the forward translation to improve cultural appropriateness. The Backward translation did not reveal major problems and equivalence to the original was confirmed following committee review. A total of 470 participants from Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Qatar and Palestine completed the translated SF-6D. All the incremental indices values are ≥0.90 and close to 1. Item loading values ranged from 0.52 to 0.87. The measurement model weight for those with chronic health conditions ranged from 0.68 to 0.91, and from 0.42 to 0.73 for those without. The percentage of variation in self-reported health state was about 55%. The measurement weight of SF-6D on self-reported health state among chronic responders was 0.87 while among responders reporting no chronic disease was 0.61. The t-value for the difference in measurement weight was -8.93 (p ≤ 0.01). CONCLUSION: Arabic translation and cultural adaptation of SF-6D has resulted in an acceptable and culturally-adapted version that can be used in Arabic-speaking countries. Reliability and validity have been confirmed as well as ability to assess the difference in quality of life between patients with chronic health conditions and healthy individuals.

Psychological distress and perceived burden in caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder.

PURPOSE: To investigate psychological distress among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and the associated sociodemographic factors influencing parents' distress. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional design with a sample of 123 Jordanian parents providing care to children with autism spectrum disorder was used. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the Oberst Caregiving Burden Scale, the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were utilized for data collection. FINDINGS: Parents reported moderate levels of burden, negative life changes, and borderline depression and anxiety. The perceived burden related to caregiving task difficulty positively correlated with that related to time spent on tasks and negatively correlated with caregivers' caregiving-related outcomes. The perceived burden of caregiving tasks was negatively correlated with depression and anxiety and anxiety levels were positively correlated with depression (P < 0.001). PRACTICE IMPLICATION: Healthcare providers, advanced practice nurses, and policy makers should be aware of the burden, anxiety, and depression experienced by caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder.