Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Eman Alslman, Imad Thultheen, Shaher H. Hamaideh, Basema Nofal, Renad Hamdan-Mansour and Ayman Hamdan Mansour

This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological distress and bullying victimization on the relationship between alexithymia and fibromyalgia (FM) among school…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological distress and bullying victimization on the relationship between alexithymia and fibromyalgia (FM) among school adolescents.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used cross-sectional, correlational design. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,000 school adolescents at Grade 9–12 who were recruited randomly using multistrategic sampling technique.

Findings

The analysis showed that alexithymia was a significant predictor of FM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.065). Psychological distress was also a significant predictor of FM; however, its mediating effect resulted in drop of OR to 1.041. The joined effect of bulling victimization and psychological distress found to be significant although OR dropped from 1.065 to 1.039.

Research limitations/implications

The study highlights the significant role of school health nurses and mental health counselors to early detect and direct mental health interventions toward significant psychological problems among school adolescents.

Originality/value

I affirm this information has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. All authors approve the content of the manuscript and have contributed significantly to research involved/ the writing of the manuscript. The authors affirm their commitment to transfer copyright ownership to your journal if the manuscript is accepted for publication. The authors also affirm they will obtain any other copyright permission if deemed necessary within 30 days of acceptance for publication. All identifying information regarding the study participants has been omitted and this study was approved by the IRB at School of Nursing of the University of Jordan. The research conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (as revised in Brazil, 2013). All participants gave informed consent for the research, and that their anonymity was preserved. None of the authors has financial or personal matters that may pose a conflict of interest.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2020

Ayman Hamdan Mansour, Jumana H. Shehadeh and Laith A. Hamdan Mansour

This paper aims to evaluate effectiveness of cognitive behavioral intervention (CBI) to prevent substance use among first-year university students at high risk of substance use.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate effectiveness of cognitive behavioral intervention (CBI) to prevent substance use among first-year university students at high risk of substance use.

Design/methodology/approach

Sixty university students at high risk for substance use recruited and assigned to CBI and control groups (30 students per groups). Intervention impact was assessed on measures of attitudes toward substance use at three time points: baseline, postintervention and three-months postintervention.

Findings

The analysis showed that participants’ negative attitudes toward substance use in the intervention group was increased post intervention. Although the mean score was significantly higher than the baseline (Time I) at Time II and dropped at Time III, the mean scores remained higher than time I, using repeated measure ANOVA (p < 0.05).

Practical implications

Findings of this study provide evidence that CBI is effective to sustain substance abstinence among this age group.

Originality/value

The paper is testing effectiveness CBI among a high-risk population of substance use. The study is highlighting the importance of sustaining substance abstinence using psychological preventive methods.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate and summarize the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and internet-based CBT (ICBT) interventions on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). CBT is one of the most used and suggested interventions to manage MDD, whereas ICBT is a novel effective proposed approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The review was conducted following the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. A comprehensive and extensive search was performed to identify and evaluate the relevant studies about the effectiveness of CBT and ICBT on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among patients with MDD.

Findings

A total of eight research studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. RCT studies were conducted to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of CBT and ICBT on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among patients with MDD. It has been found that CBT is a well-supported and evidently based effective psychotherapy for managing depressive symptoms and reducing the relapse and readmission rate among patients diagnosed with MDD. The ICBT demonstrated greater improvements in depressive symptoms during major depressive episodes among patients with MDDS. The ICBT program had good acceptability and satisfaction among participants in different countries.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the significant findings from this systematic review, certain limitations should be acknowledged. First, it is important to note that all the studies included in this review were exclusively conducted in the English language, potentially limiting the generalizability of the findings to non-English speaking populations. Second, the number of research studies incorporated in this systematic review was relatively limited, which may have resulted in a narrower scope of analysis. Finally, a few studies within the selected research had small sample sizes, which could potentially impact the precision and reliability of the overall conclusions drawn from this review. The authors recommend that nurses working in psychiatric units should use CBT interventions with patients with MDD.

Practical implications

This paper, a review of the literature gives an overview of CBT and ICBT interventions to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms and prevent patients’ relapse and rehospitalization and shows that CBT interventions are effective on relapse prevention among patients with MDD. In addition, there is still no standardized protocol to apply the CBT intervention in the scope of reducing the severity of depressive symptoms and preventing depression relapse among patients with major depressive disorder. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of this review. Future research is also needed to find out the most effective form and contents of CBT and ICBT interventions for MDD.

Social implications

CBT is a psychological intervention that has been recommended by the literature for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). It is a widely recognized and accepted approach that combines cognitive and behavioral techniques to assist individuals overcome their depressive symptoms and improve their overall mental well-being. This would speculate that effectiveness associated with several aspects and combinations of different approaches in CBT interventions and the impact of different delivery models are essential for clinical practice and appropriate selection of the interventional combinations.

Originality/value

This systematic review focuses on the various studies that explore the effectiveness of face-to-face CBT and ICBT in reducing depressive symptoms among patients with major depressive disorder. These studies were conducted in different countries such as Iran, Australia, Pennsylvania and the USA.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

Bushra Ghannam, Husam Al Khatib, Abeer Alzayyat and Ayman Hamdan Mansour

Adolescence is a developmental stage of transition that is marked by multiple biopsychosocial changes that affect their well- and ill-being. This study aims to examine the…

Abstract

Purpose

Adolescence is a developmental stage of transition that is marked by multiple biopsychosocial changes that affect their well- and ill-being. This study aims to examine the multidimensional of well- and ill-being among adolescents, and to understand the relationship between well-being and depression using the PERMA model among school-age adolescents.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used to recruit 625 school-age adolescents (343 males and 282 females), using convenience sampling technique from the central district of Jordan. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data in relation to depression and well-being.

Findings

The analysis revealed that 32% had a well-being score below the median and 19% had severe depressive symptoms. Depression and well-being were moderately correlated, with the connectedness dimension being the most correlated to depression, whereas the engagement dimension was the least correlated. Females had higher scores on all subscales of depression and a significantly higher score on depression than males, whereas males had higher scores on all well-being dimensions and significantly higher scores on overall well-being than females.

Research limitations/implications

Adolescents’ mental health is compromised and affected by their perception of well-being, and a comprehensive psychoeducation for adolescents on how to enhance well-being might combat development of depressive symptoms.

Originality/value

This study used all PERMA model components to provide an in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being, which is a crucial initial phase in better understanding how this age group experiences well-being and how it connects to their ill-being, as indicated by their depressive symptoms. The in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being will aid in planning early intervention and prevention programs for mental illness.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2021

Maisa Mohamed Ali Mansour, Rushdya Rabee Ali Hassan, Salwa Moustafa Amer Mahmoud and Youssif Mohamed Akl

This paper aims to identify the most common fungal species that grow on paper manuscripts and cause bio-deterioration. It also detects the impact of additive materials on fungal…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the most common fungal species that grow on paper manuscripts and cause bio-deterioration. It also detects the impact of additive materials on fungal degrading and builds a wide database. Thus, it helps conservators understand this phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 15 samples were collected from different paper manuscripts suffering from fungi. The achievement of the study objectives depends on using a variety of analyzes, such as a microbiological study, which indicated that three main fungi grew on the paper samples. Then, a digital microscope and an environmental scanning electron microscope were used to detect the effect of fungi on paper fibers. Fourier transform infrared microscopy was used to identify the binding medium and the X-ray diffraction method was used to measure the crystallinity index of cellulose of the paper samples.

Findings

Arabic gum was used as a binder medium with the samples. Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus Fumigatus and Aspergillus Clavatus were the most common fungal species that grew on the Qur’an papers under investigation. They also caused much common damage to the paper samples. The results of the analyzes also showed that the highest crystallinity index of cellulose was in the samples that contained the lowest rate of fungal growth.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the relationship between fungal degradation and the multi-component nature of paper manuscripts. It builds a wide database that correlates the composition and the degradation of the Qur’an papers.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. 50 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2019

Bilal Hawashin, Shadi Alzubi, Tarek Kanan and Ayman Mansour

This paper aims to propose a new efficient semantic recommender method for Arabic content.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new efficient semantic recommender method for Arabic content.

Design/methodology/approach

Three semantic similarities were proposed to be integrated with the recommender system to improve its ability to recommend based on the semantic aspect. The proposed similarities are CHI-based semantic similarity, singular value decomposition (SVD)-based semantic similarity and Arabic WordNet-based semantic similarity. These similarities were compared with the existing similarities used by recommender systems from the literature.

Findings

Experiments show that the proposed semantic method using CHI-based similarity and using SVD-based similarity are more efficient than the existing methods on Arabic text in term of accuracy and execution time.

Originality/value

Although many previous works proposed recommender system methods for English text, very few works concentrated on Arabic Text. The field of Arabic Recommender Systems is largely understudied in the literature. Aside from this, there is a vital need to consider the semantic relationships behind user preferences to improve the accuracy of the recommendations. The contributions of this work are the following. First, as many recommender methods were proposed for English text and have never been tested on Arabic text, this work compares the performance of these widely used methods on Arabic text. Second, it proposes a novel semantic recommender method for Arabic text. As this method uses semantic similarity, three novel base semantic similarities were proposed and evaluated. Third, this work would direct the attention to more studies in this understudied topic in the literature.

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1996

Rama Subba Reddy Gorla, M.A. Mansour and A.A. Mohammedien

An analysis is presented to study the effects of buoyancy on forcedconvection in an axisymmetric stagnation flow of micropolar fluids over avertical cylinder with constant or…

Abstract

An analysis is presented to study the effects of buoyancy on forced convection in an axisymmetric stagnation flow of micropolar fluids over a vertical cylinder with constant or linear variation of surface heat flux conditions. Numerical solutions are given for the governing momentum, angular momentum and energy equations. Two flow regions, namely the buoyancy‐assisted and buoyancy‐opposed cases are analysed. It is observed that the wall shear stress and surface heat transfer rate increase or decrease with the buoyancy force parameter depending on the flow regime being buoyancy‐assisted or buoyancy‐opposed respectively.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2021

Leo Lukose and Tanmay Basak

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the boundary walls, thermal conditions and/ or kinematics of objects embedded in the cavities and kinematics of external flow field through the ventilation ports. Experimental works on mixed convection have also been addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

This review is based on 10 unified models on mixed convection within cavities. Models 1–5 involve mixed convection based on the movement of single or double walls subjected to various temperature boundary conditions. Model 6 elucidates mixed convection due to the movement of single or double walls of cavities containing discrete heaters at the stationary wall(s). Model 7A focuses mixed convection based on the movement of wall(s) for cavities containing stationary solid obstacles (hot or cold or adiabatic) whereas Model 7B elucidates mixed convection based on the rotation of solid cylinders (hot or conductive or adiabatic) within the cavities enclosed by stationary or moving wall(s). Model 8 is based on mixed convection due to the flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities (with or without adiabatic baffles) subjected to hot and adiabatic walls. Models 9 and 10 elucidate mixed convection due to flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities involving discrete heaters and/or solid obstacles (conductive or hot) at various locations within cavities.

Findings

Mixed convection plays an important role for various processes based on convection pattern and heat transfer rate. An important dimensionless number, Richardson number (Ri) identifies various convection regimes (forced, mixed and natural convection). Generalized models also depict the role of “aiding” and “opposing” flow and combination of both on mixed convection processes. Aiding flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the same direction) may result in the augmentation of the heat transfer rate whereas opposing flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the opposite directions) may result in decrease of the heat transfer rate. Works involving fluid media, porous media and nanofluids (with magnetohydrodynamics) have been highlighted. Various numerical and experimental works on mixed convection have been elucidated. Flow and thermal maps associated with the heat transfer rate for a few representative cases of unified models [Models 1–10] have been elucidated involving specific dimensionless numbers.

Originality/value

This review paper will provide guidelines for optimal design/operation involving mixed convection processing applications.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

A.M. Rashad, Sameh Elsayed Ahmed and Mohamed Ahmed Mansour

The purpose of this numerical paper is to investigate the simulation of an unsteady double diffusive natural convection in square enclosure filled with a porous medium with…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this numerical paper is to investigate the simulation of an unsteady double diffusive natural convection in square enclosure filled with a porous medium with various boundary conditions in the presence of thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the governing dimensionless equations were written using the Brinkman Forchheimer extended Darcy model. They are numerically solved by using finite difference method by applying adiabatic boundary condition in top surface. The bottom surface is maintained at uniform temperature and concentration and left and right vertical walls are cooled.

Findings

Results are presented by streamlines, isotherms, temperature and concentration contours profiles as well as the local Nusselt number and Sherwood numbers for different values of the governing parameters such as Darcy number, buoyancy ratio, Rayleigh number, thermal radiation parameter and chemical reaction parameter. It is found that that both of the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers increase as the Rayleigh number, buoyancy ratio and Darcy number increase. Moreover, increasing the thermal radiation effects leads to a pronounced increase in the local Nusselt number, while the opposite behavior is displayed by the local Sherwood number. Furthermore, the local Sherwood number increases and the local Nusselt number decrease when the chemical reaction parameter increase.

Originality/value

The originality of this study is the square cavity with various boundary conditions filled with a porous medium with thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

M.A. Mansour, Sameh Elsayed Ahmed and Ali J. Chamkha

This paper aims to investigate the entropy generation due to magnetohydrodynamic natural convection flow and heat transfer in a porous enclosure filled with Cu-water nanofluid in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the entropy generation due to magnetohydrodynamic natural convection flow and heat transfer in a porous enclosure filled with Cu-water nanofluid in the presence of viscous dissipation effect. The left and right walls of the cavity are thermally insulated. There are heated and cold parts, and these are placed on the bottom and top wall, respectively, whereas the remaining parts are thermally insulated.

Design/methodology/approach

The finite volume method is used to solve the dimensionless partial differential equations governing the problem. A comparison with previously published woks is presented and is found to be in an excellent agreement.

Findings

The minimization of entropy generation and local heat transfer according to different values of the governing parameters are presented in details. It is found that the presence of magnetic field has negative effects on the local entropy generation because of heat transfer and the local total entropy generation. Also, the increase in the heated part length leads to a decrease in the local Nusselt number.

Originality/value

This problem is original, as it has not been considered previously.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

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