University of Konstanz
KOPS - The Institutional Repository of the University of KonstanzNot a member yet
31050 research outputs found
Sort by
Preventing Childhood Sexual Abuse Related Mental Health Deterioration Using a Narrative Family Intervention in Burundi
No full textDespite the severe impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on trauma-related disorders, preventive interventions are scarce, especially in (post-)conflict regions. We developed and evaluated a narrative family communication approach for sexually abused Burundian female children and adolescents ( N = 102). The intervention cohort ( n = 55) received psychoeducation, parental skill training, and preventive narrative exposure therapy. Intervention participants reported improved parental acceptance at 3- and 12-month follow-ups (3mFUP, 12mFUP), and showed greater improvement in overall mental health between initial assessment (IA) and 3mFUP ( drm = -0.70) and between IA and 12mFUP ( drm= -1.36) compared to non-treated controls ( drm= -0.33, drm = -0.02, respectively). Moreover, PTSD symptoms were significantly less pronounced in the intervention cohort than in the control cohort at both follow-ups. Our findings suggest that the preventive narrative family intervention might effectively buffer against devastating mental health consequences, including emerging PTSD symptoms, in the aftermath of CSA. The study and its outcome measures were preregistered at Clinical Trials (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) with the registration number NCT05136105.publishe
From biologging to conservation : Tracking individual performance in changing environments
No full textUnder an accelerating biodiversity crisis, increased urbanization, habitat fragmentation, and climate change require new approaches to assess conservation impact. We argue that animal biologging is a cost-effective method for monitoring biodiversity at its source, including tracked animals and the habitats they occupy. Biologging, or animal-mounted sensors to record data, can act as a reporting, measurement, and verification system, and deliver direct insights into environments of selection. Using a case study of migrating white storks (Ciconia ciconia), we show that biologging yields real-time measurements of individual performance, mechanistic insights into environments of selection, and the potential for gene flow across anthropogenically influenced habitats. These insights can inform the success of biodiversity targets and conservation initiatives and improve real-time species management. At the global scale, we further illustrate that biologging studies display substantial bias in the types of environments and human conditions sampled. Studies appear biased toward sparsely populated areas and remain particularly rare in highly urbanized areas, areas experiencing high rates of recent forest fragmentation, and key areas for global biodiversity conservation efforts. We highlight the need for equitable access to technology to leverage the biodiversity potential of biologging in the Global South. Advances in software-defined tracking technology will soon give real-time information on energy budgets, survival, reproduction, and ultimately demographic processes and population-level parameters. When deployed into areas most needed, biologging can operationalize access to key measures of biodiversity maintenance such as gene flow, especially in difficult-to-access areas that are key to the future persistence of a species.publishe
Person-Environment Interactions in the Context of Active Mobility and Social Participation in Urban Neighborhood Environments : A Social-Ecological Perspective
No full textBackground
Like most countries around the world, Germany is facing steady urbanization. To prepare for this population growth, cities must find sustainable ways to grow while ensuring their residents’ health. Among the various determinants of urban health, research has identified health behaviors – such as active mobility and social participation – to have significant potential in this context. Through urban neighborhoods (consisting of the social, natural, and built environment) that promote residents’ engagement in active mobility and social participation, various positive effects on health and livability can be achieved. However, the associations and interactions of the social, natural, and built environment, as well as their influence on individuals’ behavior, are very complex and research inconsistent.
Method
To address this knowledge gap, this cumulative dissertation investigated person-environment interactions in the context of active mobility and social participation inurban neighborhood environments. Epistemologically, this work is grounded in Critical Realism and adopts a social-ecological perspective in its investigations. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach was used, which consists of two ambulatory assessments, one cross-sectional survey, and three focus group interviews. This integration of the four studies allowed to address the complex dynamics of person-environment interactions. In more detail, the first study introduced a novel and innovative ambulatory assessment with walking-triggered electronic diaries that was utilized to assess the feasibility of collecting high-quality, real-life data on person-environment interactions in urban neighborhood environments. The second study utilized the new trigger from study one and examined intra-individual associations between environmental greenness, social participation, and mental health during active mobility. The third study builds upon the first two. It used a cross-sectional design to investigate more broad inter-individual differences concerning active
mobility, social participation, and subjective neighborhood perceptions across neighborhoods with varying objectively determined conduciveness for active mobility and social participation. Also, it was analyzed whether the neighborhoods’ objective characterization moderates associations between active mobility and subjective neighborhood perceptions with social participation. Finally, three qualitative focus group interviews were conducted for an in-depth exploration of barriers and facilitators that residents report to influence their (non) engagement in active mobility and social participation.
Results
The results of the four studies are consequential. First of all, the new ambulatory assessment design was positively validated. Secondly, the investigation of individuals while they engage in active mobility revealed important information about associations between environmental greenness, social participation, and mental health. Thirdly, the findings support the necessity of considering both objective and subjective
characterizations of urban neighborhood environments concerning (non) engagement in health-behaviors. Additionally, important interrelations between active mobility, environmental factors, and social participation were identified against the background of different objective neighborhood characterizations. Moreover, the insights provided by the residents underline the value of including those who are affected most when planning interventions or environmental changes: In short, neighborhood-specificity is to be preferred over ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches; ‘the more the merrier’ of objective environmental characterizations does not always apply, and individuals’ behavior is not deterministic but probabilistic, complicating research.
Conclusion
Cumulatively, the integration of time- and event-sensitive data, a cross-sectional overview of residents’ behavior and perceptions, as well as in-depth insights into their experiences provide valuable information and guidance. Research can benefit from considering the findings, implications, limitations, and strengths of this dissertation to improve future research and ultimately help to design health-promoting urban
neighborhoods.publishe
Pflege im Alter : Pflegepräferenzen und familiale Solidarität
No full textDiese Studie untersucht die Pflegepräferenzen der 65- bis 75-jährigen Bevölkerung in der Region Bodensee-Oberschwaben und analysiert, welchen Einflussgrößen die Vorstellungen für die eigene spätere Pflegeversorgung unterliegen. Mittels einer explanativ-sequenziellen Mixed Methods Studie werden familiale, soziale, ökonomische und kulturell-kontextuelle Einflüsse analysiert. Die Erkenntnisse bieten wichtige Ansätze zur Weiterentwicklung der pflegerischen Versorgung und zur Förderung bedarfsgerechter Pflegeangebote.publishe
Gender, politics, and the market : evidence from Finland
No full textWe extend work on political consumerism by examining pre-behavioral stages and including people who have not yet engaged in a politically motivated boycott (opposition) or buycott (support). We analyze the effect of gender on both attitudes and behavior using data from four Finnish National Election Studies (covering 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019). Finland constitutes a rigorous test of the gender gap hypothesis: Scandinavia generally exhibits high rates of political consumerism and gender equality; combined, these conditions make a gender gap in Finland highly unlikely. Our data reveal the opposite, however. In gender-equal Finland, gender is a key predictor of political consumerism, both as attitudes toward future action and as past behavior. Moreover, attitudes toward both variants (buycott/boycott) are systematically gendered: among those who have never practiced political consumerism, men are systematically less likely and women are more likely to view the market as a channel of political expression.publishe
Adolescents' beliefs about caste-essentialism and their social location in Nepal
No full textSocial essentialism plays a significant role in legitimizing power imbalances within hierarchical societies, such as the caste system. We investigated whether adolescents endorsed caste essentialist beliefs and whether these beliefs about the stability of caste correlate with their perceived social mobility and social location (caste, SES). We interviewed 590 students between the ages of 10 and 18 years (Mage = 14 years; SDage = 1 year 7 months) of grades 6–10 from 25 school classes in Nepal to assess their caste essentialist beliefs with a switched-at-birth task and measured their perceived social mobility in terms of perceived feasibility regarding marriage to a higher caste. In line with our assumptions, adolescents of the highest caste group showed stronger essentialist beliefs regarding both higher and lower caste when compared to adolescents from the other caste groups and believed that an individual’s caste would not change even when switched at birth. Adolescents of the highest caste and from higher-SES backgrounds expressed stronger essentialist beliefs than their peers. Caste essentialist beliefs and perceived feasibility regarding marriage to a higher caste were significantly correlated. However, adolescents’ social location did not play a significant role in their perceived feasibility of marriage to a higher caste. Overall, they expected low social mobility concerning marriage. We discuss the complex associations between caste essentialism, social mobility beliefs and social location during adolescence.publishe
Older adults do not consistently overestimate their action opportunities across different settings
No full textAm I still able to climb the ladder? Aging accompanies changes in physical constitution and a higher risk of injuries. At the same time, the judgment of action opportunities needs to be highly adaptive to the given task setting. We examined older adults’ (n = 40) judgment tendencies in four different tasks by use of a detection theory approach. The tasks’ setting differed in their boundaries’ proximity to the actor with either proximal (e.g., judging one’s hand fit into an opening) or distal boundaries (e.g., judging the reachability of a distant object). The older participants showed significantly more liberal judgments in tasks with distal boundaries. Body awareness and alertness were associated with the extent of judgment disparity between setting types. Subsequently, we compared a gender- and education-matched subsample of the group (n = 24) to a younger sample (n = 24). Older participants’ judgment tendencies were significantly more extreme, with stronger under- or overestimations depending on the type of setting. We discuss potential links between more extreme judgments in older adults and higher reliance on learned patterns. Future research is needed to further unravel these setting-dependent behavioral differences and the factors contributing to more extreme judgment tendencies with growing age.publishe
Fluorine Labeling and 19F NMR Spectroscopy to Study Biological Molecules and Molecular Complexes
No full textHigh‐resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy represents a key methodology for studying biomolecules and their interplay with other molecules. Recent developments in labeling strategies have made it possible to incorporate fluorine into proteins and peptides reliably, with manageable efforts and, importantly, in a highly site‐specific manner. Paired with its excellent NMR spectroscopic properties and absence in most biological systems, fluorine has enabled scientists to investigate a rather wide range of scientific objectives, including protein folding, protein dynamics and drug discovery. Furthermore, NMR spectroscopic experiments can be conducted in complex environments, such as cell lysate or directly inside living cells. This review presents selected studies demonstrating how 19F NMR spectroscopic approaches enable to contribute to the understanding of biomolecular processes. Thereby the focus has been set to labeling strategies available and specific NMR experiments performed to answer the underlying scientific objective.publishe
