The Impact of the COVID-19 Infodemic on Depression and Sleep Disorders: Focusing on Uncertainty Reduction Strategies and Level of Interpretation Theory.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, information diffusion about the COVID-19 has attracted public attention through social media. The World Health Organization declared an infodemic of COVID-19 on February 15, 2020. Misinformation and disinformation, including overwhelming amounts of information about COVID-19 on social media, could promote adverse psychological effects. OBJECTIVE: This study used the Psychological Distance and Level of Construal theory (CLT) to predict peoples' negative psychological symptoms from social media usage. In this study, the CLT intended to show peoples' psychological proximity to objects and events with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this study links the uncertainty reduction strategy (URS) and CLT for COVID-19-related preventive behaviors and affective reactions to assess their effects on mental health problems. METHODS: A path model was tested (N=297) with data from a web-based survey to examine how social media usage behaviors are associated with URS and psychological distance with COVID-19 (based on the CLT), leading to preventive behaviors and affective reactions. Finally, the path model was used to examine how preventive behaviors and affective reactions are associated with mental health problems including anxiety and sleep disorder. RESULTS: After measuring participants' social media usage behavior, we found that an increase in general social media usage led to higher use of the URS and lower construal level on COVID-19. The URS is associated with preventive behaviors, but the CLT did not show any association with preventive behaviors; however, it increases affective reactions. Moreover, increased preventive behavior showed negative associations with symptoms of mental health problems; that is, depression and sleep disorder. However, the affective reaction tends to be positively associated with depression and sleep disorder. Owing to the infodemic of COVID-19, the psychological perception of the pandemic negatively influenced users' mental health problems. CONCLUSIONS: Our results imply that the information from social media usage heightened concerns and had a lower construal level; this does not facilitate taking preventive actions but rather reinforces the negative emotional reaction and mental health problems. Thus, higher URS usage is desirable.

Posterior dental compensation and occlusal function in adults with different sagittal skeletal malocclusions.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare posterior tooth inclinations, occlusal force, and contact area of adults with different sagittal malocclusions. METHODS: Transverse skeletal parameters and posterior tooth inclinations were evaluated using cone beam computed tomography images, and occlusal force as well as contact area were assessed using pressure-sensitive films in 124 normodivergent adults. A linear mixed model was used to cluster posterior teeth into maxillary premolar, maxillary molar, mandibular premolar, and mandibular molar groups. Differences among Class I, II, and III groups were compared using an analysis of variance test and least significant difference post-hoc test. Correlations of posterior dental inclinations to occlusal function were analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS: In male subjects, maxillary premolars and molars had the smallest inclinations in the Class II group while maxillary molars had the greatest inclinations in the Class III group. In female subjects, maxillary molars had the smallest inclinations in the Class II group, while maxillary premolars and molars had the greatest inclinations in the Class III group. Occlusal force and contact area were not significantly different among Class I, II, and III groups. CONCLUSIONS: Premolar and molar inclinations showed compensatory inclinations to overcome anteroposterior skeletal discrepancy in the Class II and III groups; however, their occlusal force and contact area were similar to those of Class I group. In subjects with normodivergent facial patterns, although posterior tooth inclinations may vary, difference in occlusal function may be clinically insignificant in adults with Class I, II, and III malocclusions.

Social influences on smoking in American workers: the role of the presence of smokers in the workplace and in the home.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between the presence of smokers in the workplace and smokers in the home and current smoking status among employed men and women. DESIGN: Analysis of data from the second wave of the nationally representative Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (2004-2006). SUBJECTS: Sample of 627 currently employed men and women, aged 34 to 82 (M = 51), who had been regular cigarette smokers at some time. MEASURES: Survey items indexing presence of smokers in the respondents' immediate work area and home and their current smoking status. ANALYSIS: Multiple logistic regression analyses, controlling for age, gender, education, race, and job type. RESULTS: Examined together, smokers in the workplace (OR = 2.83) and smokers in the home (OR = 6.09) were uniquely associated with current smoking status. Moreover, smokers in the home reduced the association between smokers in the workplace and current smoking. The presence of smokers in the workplace was associated with a more than fourfold increase in current smoking among respondents with no smokers in the home, but was unrelated to current smoking among respondents with smokers in the home. CONCLUSIONS: Failure to consider the presence of smokers in the home significantly limits the potential impact of workplace smoking interventions.

Purposiveness and leisure-time physical activity in women in early midlife.

Physical activity in early midlife has important implications for women's health. The present cross-sectional study investigated the relation of purposiveness to leisure-time physical activity, as mediated by health investment, in a sample of women in early midlife. Participants were 211 women between the ages of 35 and 45 years (mean 40.55 years, SD = 3.11) who responded to the second wave of the study of Midlife Development in the United States. Participants were originally selected by means of a nationally representative random-digit-dialing procedure. A structural equation analysis of data with latent variables was conducted with MPLUS. Purposiveness was indexed by measures of purpose in life, personal growth, and future planning. Health investment was indexed by thought and effort committed to health and the extent to which individuals worked hard to stay healthy. Leisure-time physical activity was indexed by both moderate and vigorous leisure-time activity. Results, controlling for sociodemographic factors, showed that purposiveness was associated with more physical activity and that the relation between purposiveness and leisure-time physical activity was fully mediated by health investment. These results suggest that women with a sense of purpose may be better able to achieve acceptable levels of physical activity.