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Presentation at the European Conference for Social Work Research, Leuven: Belgium
A reflective account of being Alone, Asian and Atheist in the Middle East
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A previous study found a variety of unusual sexual interests to cluster in a five-factor structure, namely submission/masochism, forbidden sexual activities, dominance / sadism, mysophilia, and fetishism (Schippers et al., 2021). The current study was an empirical replication to examine whether these findings generalized to a representative population sample. An online, anonymous sample (N = 256) representative of the Dutch adult male population rated 32 unusual sexual interests on a scale from 1 (very unappealing) to 7 (very appealing). An exploratory factor analysis assessed whether similar factors would emerge as in the original study. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis served to confirm the factor structure. Four slightly different factors of sexual interest were found: extreme, illegal and mysophilic sexual activities; light BDSM without real pain or suffering; heavy BDSM that may include pain or suffering; and illegal but lower-sentenced and fetishistic sexual activities. The model fit was acceptable. The representative replication sample was more sexually conservative and showed less sexual engagement than the original convenience sample. On a fundamental level, sexual interest in light BDSM activities and extreme, forbidden, and mysophilic activities seem to be relatively separate constructs.
In a knowledge economy such as that of the Netherlands, the importance of higher education is widely recognized. Dutch universities of Applied Sciences aim to create successful learning environments to prepare young people for their future work and role in society.
The closing of schools and sports clubs during theCOVID-19 lockdown raised questions about thepossible impact on children’s motor skilldevelopment. Therefore we compared motorcompetence development over a one-year periodamong four different cohorts of primary schoolchildren. A total of 992 children from 9 primaryschools participated in this study (age 5 – 7; 47,5%boys) and were assessed two times, in grade 3 (T1)and in grade 4 (T2). Children in control group 1 and lockdown group 1 were assessed a third time aftertwo years (T3). Motor competence was measuredusing the 4-Skills Test. The mixed factorial ANOVAwith post hoc tests shows no significant differencesin motor development over the study period betweenthe lockdown groups and control groups (p > 0.05),but does show a difference between the twolockdown groups from T1 to T2 (p = 0.008). Whilesocioeconomic status (SES) was a modifier, sex andmotor ability did not modify the effects of thelockdowns. Our data show that the COVID-19lockdowns in the Netherlands did not generallyaffect motor development of young children. Incontrast, many studies have confirmed clear effectsof the pandemic lockdowns on physicalactivity1,2,3. Our study highlights the complexity ofboth motor skill development and the factors relatedto the pandemic lockdowns. We therefore suggestthat children’s motor skill development should beclosely monitored in the upcoming years.Specifically, we should pay attention to individualdifferences since it is still possible that certainchildren are impacted by the pandemic lockdowns.Moreover, long-term effects might emerge in thefuture.References1. de Sá, C. dos S. C., Pombo, A., Luz, C.,Rodrigues, L. P., & Cordovil, R. (2021). Covid-19social isolation in brazil: effects on the physicalactivity routine of families with children. RevistaPaulista de Pediatria, 39, e2020159.2. Hurter, L., McNarry, M., Stratton, G., &Mackintosh, K. (2022). Back to school afterlockdown: The effect of COVID-19 restrictions onchildren’s device-based physical activity metrics.Journal of Sport and Health Science, 11(4), 530–536.3. Moore, S. A., Faulkner, G., Rhodes, R. E.,Brussoni, M., Chulak-Bozzer, T., Ferguson, L. J.,Mitra, R., O’Reilly, N., Spence, J. C., Vanderloo, L.M., & Tremblay, M. S. (2020). Impact of theCOVID-19 virus outbreak on movement and playbehaviours of Canadian children and youth: Anational survey. International Journal of BehavioralNutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1), 85.
IntroductionOver time, surrogacy has become more broadly available to a variety of people (e.g. male same-sex couples or transgender women). Whether the wider public supports surrogacy, and what contributes to such support remains unclear. This study investigated what demographic and surrogacy arrangement-based (which people participate in the arrangement) factors shape attitudes towards surrogacy.MethodA representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 1,074) reported their attitudes on four (out of 30) randomly assigned vignettes in 2023. Each vignette described a surrogacy family with variations in sexuality and gender of parents, the social and genetic bonds between the parents, the surrogate, and the oocyte donor, and was followed by an attitude questionnaire (6 items). Multilevel regression analyses were conducted with attitudes as the dependent variable and demographic factors (gender, Dutch background, age, education, sexual orientation, urbanisation, and religiosity) and arrangement-based factors (parental composition, genetic and social bonds with the surrogate, and oocyte donors).ResultsParticipants held fairly positive attitudes towards surrogacy. People identifying as women, with only having a Dutch background, who were younger, more highly educated, non-heterosexual, or less religious were more likely to have positive attitudes. Participants had more positive attitudes if surrogacy arrangements entailed cis-man cis-woman parents compared to cis-man cis-man or transgender parents, and when there was no social bond between parents and oocyte donor.ConclusionsAttitudes are influenced by both demographic and arrangement-based factors. Based on these findings, families can be informed of fairly positive reactions they might encounter from their environment.
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