The invisible addiction: cell-phone activities and addiction among male and female college students.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The primary objective of the present study was to investigate which cell-phone activities are associated with cell-phone addiction. No research to date has studied the full-range of cell-phone activities, and their relationship to cell-phone addiction, across male and female cell-phone users. METHODS: College undergraduates (N = 164) participated in an online survey. Participants completed the questionnaire as part of their class requirements. The questionnaire took 10 and 15 minutes to complete and contained a measure of cell-phone addiction and questions that asked how much time participants spent daily on 24 cell-phone activities. RESULTS: Findings revealed cell-phone activities that are associated significantly with cell-phone addiction (e.g., Instagram, Pinterest), as well as activities that one might logically assume would be associated with this form of addiction but are not (e.g., Internet use and Gaming). Cell-phone activities that drive cell-phone addiction (CPA) were found to vary considerably across male and female cell-phone users. Although a strong social component drove CPA for both males and females, the specific activities associated with CPA differed markedly. CONCLUSIONS: CPA amongst the total sample is largely driven by a desire to connect socially. The activities found to be associated with CPA, however, differed across the sexes. As the functionality of cell-phones continues to expand, addiction to this seemingly indispensable piece of technology becomes an increasingly realistic possibility. Future research must identify the activities that push cell-phone use beyond its "tipping point" where it crosses the line from a helpful tool to one that undermines our personal well-being and that of others.

"Cost creep due to age creep" phenomenon: pattern analyses of in-patient hospitalization costs for various age brackets in the United States.

The expectation that aging leads to a progressive deterioration of biological functions leading to higher healthcare costs is known as the healthcare cost creep due to age creep phenomenon. The authors empirically test the validity of this phenomenon in the context of hospitalization costs based on more than 8 million hospital inpatient records from 1,056 hospitals in the United States. The results question the existence of cost creep due to age creep after the age of 65 years as far as average hospitalization costs are concerned. The authors discuss implications for potential knowledge transfer for cost minimization and medical tourism.

The fear associated with blood and organ donation: an explication of fright and anxiety.

CONTEXT: Fear inhibits potential donors' willingness to engage in behaviors. Theoretically, fright and anxiety are differentially associated with blood and organ donation, respectively. Fright is the experience of an immediate harm, whereas anxiety is a fear of the unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the fear-related concepts of fright and anxiety in relation to blood donation and signing an organ donor card. DESIGN: Scales were created to separate the 2 fear types that were consistent in theme and addressed the same dependent variables fright and anxiety. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 509 college students at a large midwestern university. RESULTS: Survey responses from 509 participants supported the theoretical explication of the 2 fear types. Multisample analyses and multimeasurement models using confirmatory factor analysis supported that fright and anxiety were differentially associated with the contexts of blood and organ donation. CONCLUSIONS: The results supported the theoretical proposal that fright and anxiety are differentially related. The ability to measure such emotions will help future researchers create models that are more accurate for predicting potential donors and create messages to assuage fears. A greater understanding of fear will lead to more effective messages.

Hospital care and capacity in the tri-state region of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio: analysis and insights.

Hospitals are a significant part of the burgeoning healthcare sector in the United States (U.S.) economy. Despite the availability of what some describe as the world's best healthcare, the U.S. suffers from wide discrepancies in healthcare provision across hospitals and regions of the country. Specifically, capacity, utilization, quality, and even financial performance of hospitals vary widely. Based on secondary data from 533 hospitals in the adjoining states of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, this study develops several comparative metrics that enable benchmarking, which, in turn, leads to several inferences and implications for hospital administrators. The paper concludes with implications for hospital administrators and suggestions for future research.

A critique and comparison of two scales from fifteen years of studying compulsive buying.

Compulsive buying is an important construct in marketing that has far-reaching personal and social implications. The profile of the adult compulsive buyer in the literature is based largely on the 1992 Faber and O'Guinn Compulsive Buying Scale. A second compulsive buying scale by Edwards has also been used but sparingly. Empirical research conducted over that past 15 years with these two scales shows that, although both scales were designed to measure compulsive buying, the two appear to be different operationalizations of the construct. The present review raises several psychometric issues about both scales. Their robustness is crucial to a clear understanding of the antecedents and consequences of compulsive buying. Directions for research are added.