Hisham Motkal Abu-Rayya

The impact of heat on mortality and morbidity in the Greater Metropolitan Sydney Region: a case crossover analysis

BackgroundThis study examined the association between unusually high temperature and daily mortality (1997–2007) and hospital admissions (1997–2010) in the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) to assist in the development of targeted health programs designed to minimise the public health impact of extreme heat.MethodsSydney GMR was categorized into five climate zones. Heat-events were defined as severe or extreme. Using a time-stratified case-crossover design with a conditional logistic regression model we adjusted for influenza epidemics, public holidays, and climate zone. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for associations between daily mortality and hospital admissions with heat-event days compared to non-heat event days for single and three day heat-events.ResultsAll-cause mortality overall had similar magnitude associations with single day and three day extreme and severe events as did all cardiovascular mortality. Respiratory mortality was associated with single day and three day severe events (95thpercentile, lag0: OR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.24). Diabetes mortality had similar magnitude associations with single day and three day severe events (95thpercentile, lag0: OR = 1.22; 95%CI: 1.03 to 1.46) but was not associated with extreme events. Hospital admissions for heat related injuries, dehydration, and other fluid disorders were associated with single day and three day extreme and severe events. Contrary to our findings for mortality, we found inconsistent and sometimes inverse associations for extreme and severe events with cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease hospital admissions. Controlling for air pollutants did not influence the mortality associations but reduced the magnitude of the associations with hospital admissions particularly for ozone and respiratory disease.ConclusionsSingle and three day events of unusually high temperatures in Sydney are associated with similar magnitude increases in mortality and hospital admissions. The trend towards an inverse association between cardio-vascular admissions and heat-events and the strong positive association between cardio-vascular mortality and heat-events suggests these events may lead to a rapid deterioration in persons with existing cardio-vascular disease resulting in death. To reduce the adverse effects of high temperatures over multiple days, and less extreme but more frequent temperatures over single days, targeted public health messages are critical.

The Multi-Religion Identity Measure: A New Scale for Use With Diverse Religions

Religion plays a vital role in the lives of individuals around the world. Most research within the psychology of religion literature has focused on the particular features that distinguish given faiths. However, there is a need to conduct cross-cultural research on religiosity on the basis of more adequate measures applicable across religions. This article innovatively proposes a Multi-Religion Identity Measure (MRIM), aiming to facilitate cross-cultural research within the psychology of religion. Drawing on social developmental theory, the MRIM conceptualizes religious identity as attained within three main domains: Religious Affirmation and Belonging, Religious Identity Achievement, and Religious Faith and Practices. The measure was administered to 457 high school students (of a mean age of 17.7 years) and 397 college students (of a mean age of 24.57 years) from Muslim backgrounds and diverse Christian denominations in Israel. The participants also answered questions on other measures, including religio...

Acculturation, Christian religiosity, and psychological and marital well-being among the European wives of Arabs in Israel

This study represents an attempt to understand the psychological and marital well-being of spouses in mixed-ethnic or faith marriages in terms of the acculturation styles that spouses adopt in adapting to a new cultural environment. A total of 156 Western and Eastern European women with an average age of 38.79 (SD = 7.05; range = 23–53) married to Israeli Arabs participated in this study. Study findings revealed that women who adopted integration or assimilation styles of acculturation achieved the highest levels of self-esteem, positive affect, marital satisfaction, and marital intimacy by statistically significant degrees. In comparison, wives who adopted a separation style achieved intermediate degrees of psychological and marital well-being, and those classed as adopting a marginalization style scored the lowest degrees of well-being. The study found also that the Christian religiosity of the wives was positively statistically significantly related to self-esteem and positive affect, and negatively correlated with negative affect, marital satisfaction, and marital intimacy. Wives from the integration or assimilation styles of acculturation recorded statistically significantly the lowest degrees of Christian religiosity, while wives sorted into the separation or marginalization styles recorded the highest degrees.

Longitudinal Associations of Cultural Distance With Psychological Well-Being Among Australian Immigrants From 49 Countries

Data of 5,033 immigrants from 49 countries/regions to Australia, derived from Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA), were analyzed to test a widely held assumption that greater cultural distance (CD) between immigrants’ culture of origin and their destination culture is associated with more adjustment difficulties and thus lower psychological well-being (the CD Hypothesis). Objective measures of CD were constructed from Hofstede’s four value dimensions, Schwartz’s seven dimensions, and Smith et al.’s two dimensions. The hypothesis was tested using multilevel hierarchical regression analyses which controlled for individual-level variations in age, gender, marital status, English language skills, and income. Results revealed limited support for the hypothesis. Whereas the global index of CD based on Smith et al.’s values provided support for the hypothesis, the specific indices of CD, comprised of separate value dimensions, showed a mixed pattern of relationships. Finally, most of the observed CD-well-being links were limited to the earlier phases of settlement and were diminished within 3.5 years after arrival.

Neighbourhood safety and area deprivation modify the associations between parkland and psychological distress in Sydney, Australia

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate how perceived neighbourhood safety and area deprivation influenced the relationship between parklands and mental health.MethodsInformation about psychological distress, perceptions of safety, demographic and socio-economic background at the individual level was extracted from New South Wales Population Health Survey. The proportion of a postcode that was parkland was used as a proxy measure for access to parklands and was calculated for each individual. Generalized Estimating Equations logistic regression analyses were performed to account for correlation between participants within postcodes, and with controls for socio-demographic characteristics and socio-economic status at the area level.ResultsIn areas where the residents reported perceiving their neighbourhood to be “safe” and controlling for area levels of socio-economic deprivation, there were no statistically significant associations between the proportion of parkland and high or very high psychological distress. In the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods which were perceived as unsafe by residents, those with greater proportions of parkland, over 20%, there was greater psychological distress, this association was statistically significant (20-40% parkland: OR=2.27, 95% CI=1.45-3.55; >40% parkland: OR=2.53, 95% CI=1.53-4.19).ConclusionOur study indicates that perceptions of neighbourhood safety and area deprivation were statistically significant effect modifiers of the association between parkland and psychological distress.

Attitude towards Islam: Adaptation and Initial Validation of the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity in a Sample of Israeli-Arab Muslims

The present study ascertained the validity and reliability of the Attitude towards Islam measure, modified from Franciss short version (7-items) Scale of Attitude towards Christianity (Francis, 1978). 443 Arab Muslims from high schools and colleges in Israel with an age range of 17-38 years participated in the study. Factor analysis revealed two dimensions of the measure, labelled experiential and judgemental, in each of the samples. The findings also revealed high validity and reliability of the measure in the case of the whole scale and experiential dimension, and less so in the case of the judgemental dimension.

Is Integration the Best Way to Acculturate? A Reexamination of the Bicultural-Adaptation Relationship in the “ICSEY Dataset” Using the Bilineal Method

The present study reexamined the relationship between biculturalism and adaptation in the ICSEY1 data. The sample consisted of 5,365 immigrants, aged between 13 and 18 years (M = 15.35, SD = 1.56) who were living in 13 different countries. We measured biculturalism bilineally using a range of ICSEY variables akin to acculturation. The study findings revealed that biculturalism was the most preferred acculturation mode across countries and within most of the countries. Biculturalism was positively related to two out of three psychological adaptation measures and one out of two sociocultural adaptation measures across and within most participating countries. The pattern of relationship remained true after controlling for perceived discrimination in the analyses.

Loss and Psychosocial Support Among Palestinian Women in the Occupied Territories: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the “From a Bereaved Woman to Another” Project

Many Palestinian women in the occupied territories face the risk of experiencing incidents of personal loss of their husbands, youngsters, and relatives through death, imprisonment, or deportation due to daily confrontation with the Israeli occupation. In many such incidents, the individualistic focus of psychological therapy renders it less appropriate as a technique to minimize the psychosocial consequences of loss at the population (macro) level. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of an alternative approach called “from a bereaved woman to another.” A convenience sample of 94 bereaved women (aged 31–50 years) from West Bank territories took part in this initiative. The results of the study confirmed a statistically significant increase in womens positive self-attitudes and interpersonal skills and a decrease in loss-related symptoms.

The Interconnection Between Islamic Religiosity and Deviancy Among Australian Muslim Youth: A Partial Mediation Role of Life Satisfaction

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which life satisfaction mediates the relationship between Islamic religiosity and deviancy amongst Muslim youth. A sample of 200 Australian Muslims aged between 18 and 25 years (Mage = 21.18; SD = 1.89) participated in this study. An existing attitude toward Islam measure and Islamic religious practice measure developed for the current study purposes were used. Controlling for demographic variables and social desirability, the study findings revealed a negative association between Islamic religious practice and deviancy, and a positive association with life satisfaction. Participants’ life satisfaction was negatively associated with deviancy and partially mediated the association between participants’ Islamic religious practice and deviancy. Attitudes toward Islam scores were not associated with either deviancy or life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that strategies to encourage and support young Muslim’s life satisfaction hold the potential to protect them against deviancy.

Comparative Associations Between Achieved Bicultural Identity, Achieved Ego Identity, and Achieved Religious Identity and Adaptation Among Australian Adolescent Muslims

This study examined the comparative roles of biculturalism, ego identity, and religious identity in the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims. A total of 504 high school Muslim students studying at high schools in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, took part in this study which required them to complete a self-report questionnaire. Analyses indicated that adolescent Muslims’ achieved religious identity seems to play a more important role in shaping their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation compared to adolescents’ achieved bicultural identity. Adolescents’ achieved ego identity tended also to play a greater role in their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation than achieved bicultural identity. The relationships between the three identities and negative indicators of psychological adaptation were consistently indifferent. Based on these findings, we propose that the three identity-based forces—bicultural identity development, religious identity attainment, and ego identity formation—be amalgamated into one framework in order for researchers to more accurately examine the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims.