Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Smoking Mull: A Grounded Theory Model On The Dynamics Of Combined Tobacco And Cannabis Use Among Men, A Banbury, Avigdor Zask, Stacy M. Carter, Eric Van Beurden, R Tokley, Megan Passey, Jan Copeland

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Issue addressed Australians' use of cannabis has been increasing. Over a third of Australians (35.4%) have used cannabis at some time in their lives and 10.3% are recent users. Almost two‐thirds of cannabis users combine cannabis with tobacco. The aim of this study was to understand the process of mulling - smoking tobacco and cannabis together - using a grounded theory approach. Methods Twenty‐one in‐depth semistructured interviews were conducted with men aged 25-34 and living on the North Coast of New South Wales. Interviews explored participants' smoking practices, histories and cessation attempts. Results A model describing mulling behaviour and the …

Individual And Contextual Factors Shaping Teachers' Attitudes And Responses To Bullying Among Young Children: Is Education Important?, Philippa Small, Cathrine Marguerite Neilsen-Hewett, Naomi Sweller

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study examined how pre- and post-service early childhood teachers' beliefs and responses to bullying among young children differ by level of qualification, type of bullying and whether or not it was witnessed. Results showed 1st and 4th-year student- and diploma-qualified teachers perceived acts of physical bullying to be more serious than verbal or relational bullying to a greater extent than did degree-qualified teachers. Degree-qualified teachers were less susceptible to bullying type and indicated they would be more likely to intervene than the other three groups. Results are discussed in relation to their implication for teaching practice and the content …

Associations Between Body Mass Index And Musculoskeletal Pain And Related Symptoms In Different Body Regions Among Workers, Isabel Moreira-Silva, Rute Santos, Sandra Abreu, Jorge Mota

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Obesity rates are high among employed adults and have shown a consistent increase over the past few decades. Musculoskeletal disorders related to work are a major cause of disability in working individuals. The objective of this study was to verify the associations between weight status and musculoskeletal pain and related symptoms in different body regions among workers. The sample comprised 203 factory workers. Anthropometric measures were assessed with standardized protocols and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Participants were classified as nonoverweight (BMI ≤ 24.9 kg/m²) or overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²). Musculoskeletal pain and related …

Help-Negation Among Telephone Crisis Support Workers: Impact On Personal Wellbeing And Worker Performance, Taneile Kitchingman, Coralie J. Wilson, Peter Caputi, Alan Woodward

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Paper presented at the National Suicide Prevention Conference, 24-26 July 2013, Melbourne, Australia.

Telephone counsellors (TCs) provide front line mental health support to callers in crisis. TCs often support callers with suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety, and the caller's experience of the call will influence whether they will seek help from a helpline in the future. Despite their important role, little information on TCs' mental health and help-seeking behaviours exists - a structured literature search returned 2 papers. This paper presents the results of a study that answered three research questions: 1. Do telephone counsellors experience symptoms of suicidal ideation, …

Seasonal Stress Physiology And Body Condition Differ Among Co-Occurring Tropical Finch Species, Kimberly L. Maute, Kristine French, Sarah Legge, Lee Astheimer

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Seasonal changes in avian hormonal stress responses and condition are well known for common species found at temperate and arctic latitudes, but declining and tropical species are poorly studied. This study compares stress and condition measures of co-occurring declining and non-declining tropical grass finch species in Australia. We monitored declining Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) and non-declining long-tailed and masked finches (Poepila acuticauda and P. personata) during two seasons that are potentially stressful: peak breeding (early dry season when food is plentiful) and moult (late dry to early wet season when food may be scarce). We measured body condition (muscle and …

Arrival Order Among Native Plant Functional Groups Does Not Affect Invasibility Of Constructed Dune Communities, T J. Mason, K French, D Jolley

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Different arrival order scenarios of native functional groups to a site may influence both resource use during development and final community structure. Arrival order may then indirectly influence community resistance to invasion. We present a mesocosm experiment of constructed coastal dune communities that monitored biotic and abiotic responses to different arrival orders of native functional groups. Constructed communities were compared with unplanted mesocosms. We then simulated a single invasion event by bitou (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata), a dominant exotic shrub of coastal communities. We evaluated the hypothesis that plantings with simultaneous representation of grass, herb and shrub functional groups at …

A Qualitative Study On Tobacco Smoking And Betel Quid Use Among Burmese Refugees In Australia, Susan Furber, Janet Jackson, Keryn Johnson, Radmila Sukara, Lisa Franco

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are high rates of smoking among Burmese men in Wollongong, Australia. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the beliefs and experiences of Burmese refugees in Wollongong on smoking to guide the development of smoking cessation interventions. Three focus groups were conducted with Burmese refugees. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers involved with Burmese refugees. Qualitative content analysis was used to categorise responses to the questions. Participants were aware of the health effects of tobacco smoking but had little knowledge of support for quitting. Many participants chewed betel quid and were unaware of …

Patterns Of Food Safety Knowledge Among Australians: A Latent Class Approach, Anthony Worsley, Wei Wang, Stephanie Byrne, Heather Yeatman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aimed to examine food safety knowledge and its associations among Australians. An Internet-based nationwide survey of 2,022 consumers was conducted in 2011. Quota sampling was used to ensure that the age, gender, educational background, and state of residence of the respondents were representative of the Australian population. A list of 10 food safety knowledge items was administered along with questions about the respondents' food attitudes, demographics, school education, and diet practices. Overall, the results showed that safety knowledge was relatively poor. Latent class analysis identified two groups of respondents with different levels of food safety knowledge. Poor knowledge …

Social Media Use Among Pre-Service Primary Teachers, Wendy S. Nielsen, Rachel Moll, Teresa Farrell, Nicole Mcdaid, Garry F. Hoban

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This research explores preservice science teachers' social media practices as a first step in considering how to better utilize these tools in preservice teacher education. This is an important issue as these teachers will work with the next generation of students, who are likely to be even more connected through technology tools. We report data from a survey called the Social Media and Science Learning Survey that collects information about proficiencies and frequencies of use for a variety of social media tools for learning science. Results are from a cohort of 119 Australian primary teacher-education students in the context of …

The Interrelations Among The Perception Of Parental Styles And Psychological Well-Being In Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study, Farnaz Shahimi, Patrick C. L Heaven, Joseph Ciarrochi

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This longitudinal study aims to examine the relationships between the perception of parental style, hope, self-esteem and Eysenck's psychoticism dimension throughout the span of four years. The sample was composed of 884 students from the Wollongong Youth Study, which commenced when students entered high school. During the course of the 4 years of the study, each participant completed the test booklets each time data was collected. Data was analyzed using one way ANOVA, Post-hoc test, Repeated Measurement, Pearson and Partial Correlation and General Linear Model in order to provide the aims of the study. The mean score of hope and …

Longitudinal Levels And Bouts Of Sedentary Time Among Adolescent Girls, Valerie Carson, Dylan P. Cliff, Xanne Janssen, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background Adolescent girls are one of the most sedentary demographic groups. A better understanding of their accumulation of sedentary time is needed to inform future interventions. The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal levels and bouts of objectively measured sedentary time accumulated during different days of the week and periods of the weekday among a large sample of adolescent girls. Methods The results are based on 655 adolescent girls from the Girls in Sport Intervention and Research Project. Levels and bouts of sedentary time were derived from accelerometer data collected at baseline and 18-month follow-up. Total, weekday, …

Relations Among Privacy Notions For Signcryption And Key Invisible "Sign-Then-Encrypt", Yang Wang, Mark Manulis, Man Ho Allen Au, Willy Susilo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Signcryption simultaneously offers authentication through unforgeability and confidentiality through indistinguishability against chosen ciphertext attacks by combining the functionality of digital signatures and public-key encryption into a single operation. Libert and Quisquater (PKC 2004) extended this set of basic requirements with the notions of ciphertext anonymity (or key privacy) and key invisibility to protect the identities of signcryption users and were able to prove that key invisibility implies ciphertext anonymity by imposing certain conditions on the underlying signcryption scheme.

This paper revisits the relationship amongst privacy notions for signcryption. We prove that key invisibility implies ciphertext anonymity without any additional restrictions. …

Power Sharing Among Multiple Solar Photovoltaic (Pv) Systems In A Radial Distribution Feeder, Brian K. Perera, Philip Ciufo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

With an increasing penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, power distribution grids are becoming more susceptible to network voltage rise. As per applicable standards for grid-integrated PV systems, a PV system must be automatically disconnected from the grid when the terminal voltage of the PV system exceeds a defined maximum voltage. With this directive, in certain situations, PV systems connected at nodes at which the voltage sensitivity is high, may be disconnected from the grid while PV systems connected at less sensitive nodes are continuing to operate. In such a situation, owners whose PV systems are connected at nodes at …

Effect Of Air Pollution And Racism On Ethnic Differences In Respiratory Health Among Adolescents Living In An Urban Environment, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Maria J. Maynard, Erik Lenguerrand, Melissa Whitrow, Oarabile R. Molaodi, Seeromanie Harding

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recent studies suggest that stress can amplify the harm of air pollution. We examined whether experience of racism and exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 µm and 10 µm (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) had a synergistic influence on ethnic differences in asthma and lung function across adolescence. Analyses using multilevel models showed lower forced expiratory volume (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC) and lower rates of asthma among some ethnic minorities compared to Whites, but higher exposure to PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and racism. Racism appeared to amplify the relationship …

A Hitchhiker's Guide To Assessing Sedentary Behaviour Among Young People: Deciding What Method To Use, Louise L. Hardy, Andrew P. Hills, Anna Timperio, Dylan Cliff, David Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Barry J. Taylor, Helen Brown

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

To provide a user's guide for selecting an appropriate method to assess sedentary behaviours among children and adolescents. While recommendations regarding specific instruments are not provided, the guide offers information about key attributes and considerations for objective (accelerometry; inclinometers; direct observation; screen monitoring devices) and subjective (self-report; parent report; and time use diaries/logs) approaches to assess sedentary behaviour Attributes of instruments and other factors to be considered in the selection of assessment instruments include: population (age); sample size; respondent burden; method/delivery mode; assessment time frame; physical activity information required (data output); data management; measurement error; cost (instrument and administration) and …