Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with metabolic syndrome and various addictive behaviours. Food addiction (FA) is associated with obesity, and individuals with PTSD have higher rates of FA than those without. It is unclear whether addictive-like eating patterns contribute to the metabolic dysfunction in PTSD.
Objective: We examined the relative contributions of PTSD, FA, and sex – as well as their interactive effects – to the systemic inflammation (CRP) and metabolic syndrome components (MetS: waist circumference, glucose, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, insulin) in a general population of the Upper Silesia region in Poland.
Method: N = 187 participants (52.7% women) completed Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (FA symptoms count), Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) semi-structured interview (PTSD or other trauma and stressor-related disorder (OTSR) diagnosis presence), anthropometric assessment, and phlebotomy in a fasted state.
Results: A series of hierarchical linear regressions indicated that greater number of FA symptoms had a significant effect on greater waist circumference, while PTSD/OTSR diagnosis had a significant effect on higher insulin levels. Sex did not moderate these relationships.
Conclusions: It appears that dysregulated eating patterns are associated with greater abdominal obesity, but not with metabolic dysfunction. PTSD/OTSR, but not FA, contributes to greater insulin levels. The average metabolic indices were within normal limits reflecting a non-clinical nature of the sample. Future longitudinal studies should examine whether detection of and intervention for PTSD/OTSR symptoms may be a strategy for preventing progression of metabolic dysfunction.
The primary aim of this article is to show the particularities of Central European constitutionalization after the fall of communism. Its peculiarity lies in the systemic search for the legitimacy of new communities in experiences of the past. This particularity is examined within the framework of a consideration of the contemporary understanding of the concept of Central Europe. This is particularly necessary in the light of attempts (in this area) to combine the universal values of the Western world with references to communitarian elements, usually national ones. The main idea of the article is to identify the hybrid character of Central European political communities. This is because, at the moment of constitutionalization, they decided to merge national and liberal-democratic values.
This review summarizes research empirically addressing the link between linguistic features and spread of information in online social media. N = 85 studies were selected for the review. Features that consistently had a positive effect on diffusion were information value, words pertaining to social connection, as well as engaging, concrete and powerful language style. Instead, effects of sentiment polarity (positive vs. negative), basic emotions, and morality vary in their relation with diffusion. We also noted whether the diffusion has been investigated as influence- or homophily-based, i.e., whether the sharing occurred as the result of the message exposure or simply because of inherent similarity between the users. This difference in sharing was considered in only n = 7 of the selected works, of which only n = 2 identified features that positively affect both processes.
The article analyzes challenges related to housing faced by Polish young adults. The theoretical framework is built upon the concepts of housing autonomy, weak state and social solvation. These reflect crisis reality of public life in Poland as a backdrop for transitions-to-adulthood. The presented data comes from a representative sample of 2104 people aged 18-35 surveyed through CAWI in 2023 and a qualitative longitudinal study (IDIs) conducted with 26 individuals over two waves in 2021 and 2023. The data enabled comparing the perspectives of those in three housing scenarios: living with parents, renting, and owning property, pointing to relationships between housing strategy and other variables, such as financial situation and the evaluation of one’s position. The narratives
and emotions of young adults reveal multilevel privatisation of the housing sphere, social inequalities and state’s weakness. Perceiving housing autonomy as unachievable exacerbates ‘shakiness’ of transitions-to-adulthood in weak state.
Acculturation is a complex process that refers to a psychological change of individuals’ cultural beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, and identities. By employing the Tridimensional (3D) Acculturation Model and the Relative Acculturation Extended Model, this study aimed to explore the acculturation strategies of the international professionals who work and live in Poland and to examine how the workplace shapes their experiences. Twenty professionals, 10 from Ukraine and 10 from Latin America, participated in semi-structured interviews and created cultural identity maps focusing on their experiences of acculturation and organizational culture of the companies they work for. Interpretive phenomenological analysis revealed four acculturation strategies used by the professionals: assimilation, separation, integration, and multicultural. Importantly, the last two were predominant among the study participants. Moreover, for some individuals, workplace organizational cultures shaped their acculturation process, particularly the adoption of a new culture’s values and practices. Overall, findings contribute to understanding the complexity and multidomain nature of acculturation. Methodologically, the study underscores the use of identity mapping to examine in depth the acculturation processes, especially of multicultural individuals who may not be adequately represented within quantitative approaches.
