There is increasing evidence for the negative effect of external aid programs on public health. Accordingly, it is essential to research how donors could effectively allocate their aid. It is...Show moreThere is increasing evidence for the negative effect of external aid programs on public health. Accordingly, it is essential to research how donors could effectively allocate their aid. It is established that institution-building in the health sector is crucial for enhancing public health, for example by fostering accountability and transparency. Aid that is spent on institution-building is expected to have a positive effect on public health. However, there is no empirical evidence for that, and therefore, this research contributes to the existing literature by answering the following research question: What is the effect of aid targeting institution building in the health sector on public health outcomes? Several linear regressions are performed to test the effect of Official Development Assistance for institution-building in the health sector on infant mortality, life expectancy, and immunization rates. The overall research findings show a positive, but small and insignificant relationship between health institutional aid and public health.Show less
This research explores the interplay between social media usage, offline and online interactions, perceived social support, and depression levels among university students. Analyzing data from 430...Show moreThis research explores the interplay between social media usage, offline and online interactions, perceived social support, and depression levels among university students. Analyzing data from 430 participants, this cross-sectional study leverages the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression symptoms and employs both multivariate and univariate linear regression analyses, as well as MANOVA and ANOVA tests, to understand the connections between online/offline social interactions, perceived social support, and depression. Key findings indicate a significant relationship between the level of perceived social support (β = -0.49, p < .001) and frequency of online interactions (β = 0.43, p < .05) with depression levels. Notably, individuals reporting higher levels of perceived social support tend to exhibit lower depression levels, while those with frequent online interactions often show higher depression levels. The study also identifies marked gender differences in social media use and depression, with females showing greater susceptibility. These results underscore a nuanced relationship between active/passive social media engagement, gender, and mental health. The research emphasizes the need for mental health strategies that consider individual differences, particularly focusing on the quality of social support and patterns of online engagement, to effectively address mental health concerns in young adults.Show less
This research focused on analysing the behaviour of ethnic leaders in autocratic ethnofederal regimes during changing economic situations of economic growth and contraction and in changing...Show moreThis research focused on analysing the behaviour of ethnic leaders in autocratic ethnofederal regimes during changing economic situations of economic growth and contraction and in changing political landscape of democratization and autocratization. More specifically, the focus was on the Russian Federation and its two ethnic republics: Republic Sakha and the Republic of Chuvashia. The cases were picked to represent a wealthy and a poor region of Russia. The analysis was conducted through qualitative content analysis of primary sourced speeches and secondary sourced interpretations of speeches given by ethnic elites such as heads of the republic, other political figures, or important business elites. The analysis was organized into two periods of democratization 1997-2000 and autocratization 2008-2011, and 4 sub-periods: 1997-1998 and 2008-2009 (economic contraction periods), and 1999-2000 and 2010-2011 (economic growth periods). The results found that Sakha as the wealthier republic is generally more secessionist during periods of economic contraction during both democratization and autocratization. Support was also found for the expectation that ethnic elites will prove more secessionist during democratization periods.Show less
This thesis examines how brain drain can be problematized in light of relational egalitarianism. This approach views the existing economy as that of joint production as it relies heavily on mutual...Show moreThis thesis examines how brain drain can be problematized in light of relational egalitarianism. This approach views the existing economy as that of joint production as it relies heavily on mutual dependency between citizens. Here, it aims to find whether the moral duty citizens hold towards one another can legitimately place restrictions on freedom of movement in the case of brain drain. Through taking relational egalitarianism to its normative furthests, it becomes clear that the right to exit can legitimately be constricted.Show less
This study explores whether generating more options influences how satisfied people feel about their decisions, whether they are choosing for themselves or someone else. This is relevant because it...Show moreThis study explores whether generating more options influences how satisfied people feel about their decisions, whether they are choosing for themselves or someone else. This is relevant because it provides insights into the complexity of consumer behavior, where factors such as the variability in the number of alternatives influence this decision-making process and the satisfaction of consumers. Participants were asked to respond to open-ended questions about various real-life situations where a choice had to be made. Subsequently, they selected their preferred option and rated their satisfaction with it. Surprisingly, the results showed no significant differences in satisfaction, regardless of having more or fewer options to choose from. Additionally, the placement of the chosen option in the list of all generated options made also no difference in satisfaction level. Furthermore, participants generated more options for someone else compared to for themselves. However, again in this condition, their satisfaction remained the same.Show less
Financial scarcity is known to negatively affect well-being of young adults, leading to heightened stress and uncertainty about their financial future. Despite the availability of numerous debt...Show moreFinancial scarcity is known to negatively affect well-being of young adults, leading to heightened stress and uncertainty about their financial future. Despite the availability of numerous debt relief and financial counselling programs, too little use is being made of this offered assistance. The reluctance to accept help may be influenced by a strong desire for autonomy. This study aimed to assess the association between the implicit need for autonomy and the willingness to accept help in young adults experiencing financial scarcity. Participants completed a survey that included a modernized Picture Story Exercise and a self-report questionnaire on help acceptance. Results from a multivariate regression analysis gave a marginally significant result showing that a higher implicit need for autonomy was associated with a slightly higher likelihood of help acceptance behavior, and with a more negative emotional attitude towards accepting help. Exploratory analyses highlighted that negative feelings about financial debt were a stronger predictor of help acceptance. These results underscore the importance of considering autonomy and debt-related feelings in improving interventions for young adults facing financial scarcity.Show less
Disordered eating is a predictor of clinical eating disorders, which have an increasing prevalence nowadays. Thus, it is important to understand risk and protective factors for the prevention of...Show moreDisordered eating is a predictor of clinical eating disorders, which have an increasing prevalence nowadays. Thus, it is important to understand risk and protective factors for the prevention of disordered eating. It has been shown that sex hormones affect eating behaviour, but research on how eating behaviour may be affected by hormonal contraceptives is scarce. However, self-esteem has been shown to be one of the main predictors or disordered eating in several studies. The association between hormonal contraception and self-esteem is less understood. The hypothesis of the study is that hormonal contraception is positively related to disordered eating and possibly mediated/moderated by self-esteem. To test this, a sample of 760 female participants filled out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem questionnaire, SCOFF and answered questions regarding their contraceptive use. A mediation analysis found out that there is no direct relationship, but a mediated one. In a moderation analysis a significant interaction between hormonal contraception and self-esteem has been found. This suggests that people taking hormonal contraceptives and having lower levels of self-esteem are potentially at a higher risk of developing disordered eating. Future research should focus on examining the different types of hormonal contraceptives and exogenous sex hormones, since this study was not able to make a differentiation.Show less
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent disorder in adolescents. It manifests itself in avoidance of social situations, difficulties forming relationships and an overall increased impairment...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent disorder in adolescents. It manifests itself in avoidance of social situations, difficulties forming relationships and an overall increased impairment in social functioning. In adulthood, individuals with SAD report an overall poorer quality of life. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and coping strategies have been associated with SAD in recent literature. However, information on this subject is scarce in adolescents. This study investigates the relationship between IU and traits of social anxiety (SA) in adolescents, incorporating age as a moderating variable and adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies as a mediating variable. Data on SA traits, IU and coping strategies was collected within a larger study from a non-clinical sample using questionnaires. This study included 233 participants (Mage = 18.6, SD = 3.3) of which 81% were female. Results of this study show a positive relationship between IU and SA traits. This positive relationship weakens with age during adolescence. Additionally, maladaptive coping strategies mediate the relationship between SA and IU, strengthening this relationship. These findings indicate IU, age and coping are important factors to be considered in relation to the development and maintenance of SAD. Future research should continue on this subject to provide additional practical implications for the prevention and treatment of SADShow less
Abstract Depression prevalence is increasing worldwide, especially among young people. Alarmingly, the majority of individuals are likely to suffer from recurring episodes of depression. With...Show moreAbstract Depression prevalence is increasing worldwide, especially among young people. Alarmingly, the majority of individuals are likely to suffer from recurring episodes of depression. With treatment developments lagging behind, there is an increasing need for preventing depression from an early age by investigating protective factors. Specifically, the thesis aimed to examine how behavioral emotion regulation (ER) strategies might mediate the association between self-efficacy (SE) and depression severity over four months. Additionally, the yearly stability of behavioral ER use was investigated. The sample comprised 738 participants, (Mage = 22.56, SD = 3.88), 80.6% were female. Of these, 298 individuals completed a yearly follow-up. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess SE, behavioral ER and depression severity at baseline. Depression was reassessed after four months. A multiple mediation analysis revealed that behavioral ER strategies did not mediate the relationship between SE and depression severity over time. With the exception of ignoring, no behavioral ER strategies were significantly associated with depression over time. Higher baseline SE at baseline was linked to the use of more helpful ER strategies and lower depression severity four months later. The additional analysis demonstrated stability in using some behavioral ER strategies over 1 year. The findings emphasize SE as a relevant protective factor in depression. Future research should explore additional factors and employ longitudinal designs to enhance our understanding of the complex interplay among SE and behavioral ER in buffering against depression.Show less
May people are dealing with debts and this has negative consequences. Therefore, it is important that they seek out for help. However, not everyone seeks out for help. Research suggest that...Show moreMay people are dealing with debts and this has negative consequences. Therefore, it is important that they seek out for help. However, not everyone seeks out for help. Research suggest that autonomy could be of influence. This study investigated the relationship between the need for autonomy and the level of help acceptance, of which was expected that a higher implicit need for autonomy was related to a lower level of help acceptance when experiencing debts. The PSE was used to measure the implicit need for autonomy in a sample of 91 (recently graduated) students. The level of help acceptance was measured with a self-developed questionnaire. The correlation analysis showed that autonomy and help acceptance were positively associated (r (91) =.180, p = .044). Future research should focus on investigating the relationship between autonomy and help acceptance in the specific debt domain. In general, more theoretical research is needed to understand the factors influencing the level of help acceptance. This study provides evidence that a higher need for autonomy is associated with a higher level of help acceptanceShow less
Background: Autonomy, defined as the perception that one's outcomes and actions are determined by personal thought and free will, exerts a substantial influence on human interactions with their...Show moreBackground: Autonomy, defined as the perception that one's outcomes and actions are determined by personal thought and free will, exerts a substantial influence on human interactions with their environment. This study focuses on how our need for autonomy may act as a barrier to demanding financial help when one is in debt to a person or company. Methods: A regression study was conducted, amongst 91 participants who were either currently enrolled in or had recently finished university (mean age = 22.64). A participant's implicit need for autonomy was measured with the Picture Story Exercise (PSE) and was used to predict whether a participant would accept help from a debt relief company, whilst being primed with a debt/financial scarcity scenario. Results and conclusion: The confirmatory analysis yielded non-significant results. Despite the results being non-significant a negative correlation was observed between the need for autonomy and help acceptance. A couple of methodological issues may have accounted for a lack of replication The confirmatory analysis did reveal a strong predictive effect of shame on help acceptance when indebt.Show less
Most children and adolescents are diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) around the same time puberty starts. SAD affects one’s life on a physiological, behavioural, and cognitive level. If...Show moreMost children and adolescents are diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) around the same time puberty starts. SAD affects one’s life on a physiological, behavioural, and cognitive level. If left untreated, it can have a chronic and unremitting course over time. In recent years, little research has been done on the direct relationship between puberty and the development of social anxiety disorder. Furthermore, previous research states that psychopathology such as social anxiety disorder is less apparent in highly intelligent individuals. By examining the relationship between puberty, intelligence, and SAD, suggestions can be made on the theoretical inclusion or exclusion of puberty and intelligence as risk factors for developing SAD. This study aimed to examine the predictability of puberty and intelligence on SAD, with the addition of intelligence as moderator. It was expected that puberty would positively predict signs of SAD, that intelligence would negatively predict signs of SAD, and that intelligence was a significant moderator in the relationship between puberty and signs of SAD, wherein, during puberty, highly intelligent children developed fewer signs of SAD than averagely intelligent children. Children (N= 120, 9-12 years; M age = 11.05, SD = 0.77; 52.5% girl; 44.2% gifted) from different schools in the Netherlands completed the Standard Progressive Raven Matrices, the Pubertal Development Scale, and the social anxiety YAM-5 questionnaires. A hierarchical multiple regression yielded no evidence for the predictability of puberty (p = .282) and intelligence (p = .405) on social anxiety disorder and similarly for intelligence as moderator (p = .542). Future research on the relationship between puberty, intelligence, and SAD should increase the representation of SAD, improve the PDS, and extend the age and intelligence range. In addition, other factors (e.g., biological, behavioural, social, and parental) underlying the development of SAD should be considered.Show less
This paper has researched the extent of impartiality of the ICC in determining their investigations. The justifications behind the cases of Iraq/UK and Afghanistan/US were explored, to find out how...Show moreThis paper has researched the extent of impartiality of the ICC in determining their investigations. The justifications behind the cases of Iraq/UK and Afghanistan/US were explored, to find out how the ICC reached the decision to stop investigating the UK and to leave out the US in their examination. This has been done with a discourse analysis, based on the theoretical distinction of an ethics of conviction and an ethics of responsibility. This analysis has shown that in the case of Iraq, the ICC referred more to the rule of law and legal criteria, where in the case of Afghanistan the discourse included both signs of impartiality, but also signs that practical and political considerations played a role. This thesis thus concludes that the extent of impartiality in the case of Iraq was higher than that in Afghanistan.Show less
