publications
publications by categories in reversed chronological order. generated by jekyll-scholar.
2025
- Podcasts as a Medium for Participation in Collective Action: A Case Study of Black Lives MatterTheodora Moldovan, Arianna Pera, Davide Vega, and 1 more authorSep 2025arXiv:2509.13197 [cs]
We study how participation in collective action is articulated in podcast discussions, using the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement as a case study. While research on collective action discourse has primarily focused on text-based content, this study takes a first step toward analyzing audio formats by using podcast transcripts. Using the Structured Podcast Research Corpus (SPoRC), we investigated spoken language expressions of participation in collective action, categorized as problem-solution, call-to-action, intention, and execution. We identified podcast episodes discussing racial justice after important BLM-related events in May and June of 2020, and extracted participatory statements using a layered framework adapted from prior work on social media. We examined the emotional dimensions of these statements, detecting eight key emotions and their association with varying stages of activism. We found that emotional profiles vary by stage, with different positive emotions standing out during calls-to-action, intention, and execution. We detected negative associations between collective action and negative emotions, contrary to theoretical expectations. Our work contributes to a better understanding of how activism is expressed in spoken digital discourse and how emotional framing may depend on the format of the discussion.
2024
- Self-Transcendence as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Reminiscence Functions and Death Anxiety: Implications for Psychiatric NursesAbdallah Abu Khait, Austin Menger, Hanan Al-Modallal, and 3 more authorsJournal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, May 2024
Background: Jordan’s population of older adults is growing due to improved health care and lifestyle, but the country has limited mental health care resources, causing challenges for the health care system. Reminiscence is a point of nursing intervention and a way for psychiatric nurses to help people improve their mental health by expanding their personal boundaries (self-transcendence). Aims: The study aimed to examine the mediating effects of self-transcendence on the relationship between reminiscence functions and death anxiety in a sample of Jordanian older adults. Psychiatric nurses can refine reminiscence therapy by targeting aspects of self-transcendence to reduce death anxiety. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was employed to collect the data. A total of 319 older adults participated in the study. The sample was recruited using convenience and snowball sampling strategies through social media and personal contacts. Results: The reminiscence function of “Bitterness Revival,” gender, the presence of a life-threatening disease, a history of psychiatric disorder, and the work sector were statistically significant predictors of death anxiety. This model accounts for 24% of the death anxiety score ( F = 7.789, p \textless .001). Reminiscence functions 1, 2, and 5 predicted self-transcendence. This model explained 25% of the variance in the self-transcendence score ( F = 6.548, p \textless .001). Self-transcendence exerts a positive, partial mediating effect between “Bitterness Revival” and death anxiety, controlling for other covariates in the death anxiety model ( p = .016). Conclusions: The study is informative for understanding the role of self-transcendence in buffering death anxiety, notwithstanding “Bitterness Revival” reminiscences. This knowledge reveals practical implications for psychiatric nurses about the importance of developing reminiscence interventions to promote self-transcendence and ease death anxiety.
- The mediating role of religion and loneliness on the association between reminiscence functions and depression: a call to advance older adults’ mental healthAbdallah Abu Khait, Austin Menger, Mohammad Rababa, and 3 more authorsPsychogeriatrics, Jan 2024
Abstract Background Current literature lacks evidence about the relationship between reminiscence functions and depression and the mediating role of clinical constructs such as loneliness and religion. The study aimed to examine the mediating effects of loneliness and religion on the association between reminiscence functions and depression in a sample of older Jordanian adults. Methods An anonymous online cross‐sectional survey was employed to collect data from 365 older Jordanian adults. Convenience and snowball sampling methods were used to recruit participants through social media. Results In the depression model, Bitterness Revival and Intimacy Maintenance factors, educational level, and Intrinsic Religiosity were statistically significant predictors of depression. Bitterness Revival and Intimacy Maintenance factors, work sector, and Intrinsic Religiosity were statistically significant predictors of loneliness. Loneliness has a negative, partial mediating effect on Intimacy Maintenance and depression. Conclusion Depression caused by significant losses in the Arab Jordanian environment might be mitigated by Intimacy Maintenance by reducing feelings of loneliness. Understanding how Intimacy Maintenance correlates with depression through loneliness could help psychiatric nurses develop psychosocial interventions that reduce depression among older adults.