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Biomedical subjects

Valmi D Sousa

Publications and source records attributed to Valmi D Sousa.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Depressive symptoms and learned resourcefulness among Taiwanese female adolescents.

Depression in adolescents is a widespread problem and has negative consequences on mental health, including suicidal tendencies. Worldwide, this condition is twice as prevalent in females as in males. To identify factors that may affect the development of depression in female adolescents in Taiwan, a cross-sectional, correlational design was used to examine the relationships among stressors, learned resourcefulness, and depressive symptoms. Four hundred four Taiwanese female adolescents participated in the study. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression were used to analyze data. The study findings suggested that low household income, dissatisfaction with grades, perceived poor health state, and poor peer relationships were significant stressors that contribute to the development of depressive symptoms. Adolescents with greater learned resourcefulness had fewer depressive symptoms. In addition, learned resourcefulness mediated the effects of perceived health and peer relationships on depressive symptoms. Health-care providers can use this knowledge to teach adolescents coping strategies such as use of learned resourcefulness to prevent depression and its negative consequences.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Cross-cultural equivalence and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Depressive Cognition Scale.

There is a great need for researchers to have access to reliable and valid research instruments in their own language to measure a concept of interest or concern. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine semantic equivalency and psychometric properties of the Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS) in a Brazilian sample of diabetics. Back-translation and field testing methodology was used to determine the DCS semantic equivalency and psychometric properties. A convenience sample of 40 bilingual Brazilian adults was used to conduct the field testing of the scale. The findings suggested that the translation of the DCS was adequate and initial estimates of internal consistency and construct validity were adequate for both the DCS and its Portuguese version. Psychometric testing of the Portuguese language version of the DCS in this small sample appears to have sufficient reliability and validity for use in examining depressive cognitions in Brazilian adults. Further psychometric testing of the Portuguese version of the DCS in a larger Portuguese-speaking sample with diabetes is recommended.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Relationships among self-care agency, self-efficacy, self-care, and glycemic control.

Costly complications of diabetes often arise from poor glycemic control. Appropriate diabetes self-care management may improve control. This study examined whether self-care management affects glycemic control and mediates relationships between self-efficacy and self-care agency with glycemic control. In a cross-sectional correlational design, data from a prior study of 141 insulin-requiring adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were examined using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple hierarchical regression. Findings indicated that greater self-care agency and self-efficacy lead to greater self-care management, in turn leading to better glycemic control. Self-care management did not mediate between self-efficacy or self-care agency and glycemic control. Thus, beliefs or capabilities for self-care are insufficient to improve glycemic control; doing so requires self-care management.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Testing a conceptual framework for diabetes self-care management.

Diabetes is a major source of morbidity, mortality, and economic expense in the United States. The majority of researchers and clinicians believe that diabetes is a self-care management disease, and that patients should be reliable, capable, and sufficiently responsible to take care of themselves. However, individuals with diabetes may or may not have diabetes knowledge, social support, self-care agency (an individual's capability to perform self-care actions), and self-efficacy (an individual's beliefs in his or her capability to perform self-care actions) that would help them to engage in diabetes self-care management. Therefore, this study examined the relationship among those factors using a cross-sectional model testing design. A convenient sample of 141 insulin-requiring individuals with either diabetes type 1 or type 2, 21 years old and over, was recruited from an outpatient diabetes care center located in a Southeast region of the United States. Simple linear regression, multiple standard regression, and multiple hierarchical regression were used to analyze the data. Individuals with greater diabetes knowledge had greater self-care agency and self-efficacy. Those with a higher score in social support had greater self-care agency and better diabetes self-care management, and those with greater self-efficacy had better diabetes self-care management. In addition, self-care agency mediated the effects of diabetes knowledge on self-efficacy and the effects of social support on diabetes self-care management. Self-efficacy mediated the effects of self-care agency on diabetes self-care management. Furthermore, the linear combination of diabetes knowledge, social support, self-care agency, and self-efficacy, taken together, positively affected diabetes self-care management. Enhancing an individual's diabetes knowledge, social support, self-care agency, and self-efficacy may be a strategy which can promote better engagement in diabetes self-care.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

How to determine whether a convenience sample represents the population.

Although convenience samples are used widely by researchers, determination of the representativeness of these samples are not generally documented in nursing research. Because convenience samples may be biased, this study used a cross-sectional design and a convenience sample of 141 subjects to describe ways to assess this possible bias. Analysis of percentage and average variability (variance of the mean) suggested that the study sample represented the research setting population. More reports are needed to strengthen the findings of studies that have used convenience samples.

Clinical Nursing Research↗