Network analysis of the relationships between depressive symptoms and social participation activities among Chinese older adults and its implications for nursing

Objective:Network analysis was used to explore the complex inter-relationships between social participation activities and depressive symptoms among the Chinese older population,and the differences in network structures among different genders,age groups,and urban-rural residency would be compared.Methods:Based on the 2018 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(CLHLS),12,043 people aged 65 to 105 were included.The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression(CESD)Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms and 10 types of social participation activities were collected,including housework,tai-chi,square dancing,visiting and interacting with friends,garden work,reading newspapers or books,raising domestic animals,playing cards or mahjong,watching TV or listening to radio,and organized social activities.R 4.2.1 software was used to estimate the network model and calculate strength and bridge strength.Results:21.60%(2,601/12,043)of the participants had depressive symptoms.The total social participation score was negatively associated with depressive symptoms after adjusting for sociodemographic factors.The network of social participation and depressive symptoms showed that“D9(Inability to get going)”and“S9(Watching TV and/or listening to the radio)”had the highest strength within depressive symptoms and social participation communities,respectively,and“S1(Housework)”,“S9(Watching TV and/or listening to the radio)”,and“D5(Hopelessness)”were the most prominent bridging nodes between the two communities.Most edges linking the two communities were negative.“S5(Graden work)-D5(Hopelessness)”and“S6(Reading newspapers/books)-D4(Everything was an effort)”were the top 2 strongest negative edges.Older females had significantly denser network structures than older males.Compared to older people aged 65e80,the age group 81e105 showed higher network global strength.Conclusions:This study provides novel insights into the complex relationships between social participation and depressive symptoms.Except for doing housework,other social participation activities were found to be protective for depression levels.Different nursing strategies should be taken to prevent and alleviate depressive symptoms for different genders and older people of different ages.

Development and evaluation of the Directive and Nondirective Support Scale for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives:This study aims to develop the Directive and Nondirective Support Scale for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes(DNSS-T2DM)to measure diabetes-specific support and patients’preference as well as evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the DNSS-T2DM.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tongzhou District,Beijing,China from July to September 2015.A total of 474 participants who had been diagnosed as type 2 diabetes by physicians and completed the DNSS-T2DM were included.The original 11-item DNSS-T2DM contains five items on nondirective support(Items 1-5)and six items on directive support(Items 6-11).There were two parallel questions for each item with one to measure the preference for support(Preference part)and the other to measure the perception of support in reality(Reality part).The final DNSS-T2DM was determined based on the results of the exploratory factor analysis(EFA).The construct validity of the final DNSS-T2DM was evaluated by the confirmatory factor analysis(CFA).The reliability was evaluated by internal consistency with Cronbach’sαcoefficients.Results:A final 7-item DNSS-T2DM loaded on 2 factors with four items representing nondirective support and three items representing directive support was determined based on the EFA.The CFA indicated a satisfactory construct validity.The internal consistency of the 7-item DNSS-T2DM as well as the nondirective support items was satisfactory with Cronbach’sα≥7.00.70.Conclusions:Our study supported the validity and reliability of the 7-item DNSS-T2DM.Further studies on the application of the DNSS-T2DM in different settings and population are needed.

Semitensor product based adaptive control for attitude tracking of spacecraft with unknown external disturbances

This paper investigates the attitude tracking and disturbance rejection problem of rigid spacecraft. Using a new matrix product, i.e., the semitensor product of matrices, the parameter uncertainties in the inertia matrix is isolated. Both the parameter uncertainties and the external disturbance are handled by robust adaptive control method. By combining the semitensor product of matrices, backstepping control methodology, and adaptive control technique, a new adaptive control law is designed. Simulation result is also presented to demonstrate the proposed design method.