Welcome to the University of Lincoln, College of Social Science Research website. This website aims to provide an overview on the wide range of research undertaken within the College of Social Science. It contains details of events, current studies, community resources and information on how you or your organisation can become engaged with research within the College.
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Parenting styles and types: Breastfeeding attitudes in a large sample of mothers
The importance of breastfeeding for both maternal and infant health is well established. However, it remains the case that only a small percentage of infants are breastfed after the first six months of life. Maternal negative breastfeeding attitudes are associated with a reduced likelihood of breastfeeding an infant, but they are a malleable target for practitioner interventions. By adjusting perceptions, and therefore behaviours within the population, maternal and infant health outcomes may be improved. As such, it is important to understand whether certain types of mother might feel more negatively about breastfeeding. Here. we investigated the relationships between parenting styles, personality traits, and breastfeeding attitudes. In addition, we aimed to address the interrelated nature of parenting styles by identifying ‘types’ of mother who may feel more negatively about breastfeeding.
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Allied health professions public health research priorities: A modified e-delphi study in the United KingdomObjectives This study identifies the United Kingdom (UK) Allied Health Professions (AHP) public health research priorities through a modified e-Delphi study conducted with an expert panel. Study design...
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Lecture start time and sleep characteristics: Analysis of daily diaries of undergraduate students from the LoST-Sleep projectEmerging evidence shows that later high school start times are associated with increased sleep duration; however, little is known if this extends to the university setting. This study investigated associations of first lecture start times with sleep characteristics among university students. Seventy-five percent of first lectures occurred before noon. Students reported short sleep (M = 7.0 hours, SD = 1.9) and fewer reported highest levels of sleep quality (42.8%) and restfulness (24.8%) when first lectures started at 09:00 or 09:30 compared to 10:00 or later. Every hour delay of first lecture start time was associated with 15.1 (95% confidence interval : 9.5; 20.7) minutes increase in sleep duration and higher odds of reporting the highest levels of sleep quality and restfulness. Focusing on attended lectures starting before noon, hourly delay of first lecture start time was associated with 37.4 (95% CI: 22.0; 52.8) minutes increased sleep duration. Bedtime, sleep time, and sleep onset latency were not significantly associated with first lecture start times....
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Predictors of suicide attempts in male UK gamblers seeking residential treatmentDisordered gambling can have serious negative consequences for the individual and those around them. Previous research has indicated that disordered gamblers are at an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, ideation and attempts. The current study sought to utilise data from a clinical sample to identify factors that are associated with prior suicide attempts. Methods The sample included 621 patients entering a gambling-specific residential facility in the UK. A series of Chi-Square analyses and binary logistic regressions were run to identify clinical and sociodemographic variables associated with suicide attempts....
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‘Oh sorry, I’ve muted you!’: Issues of connection and connectivity in qualitative (longitudinal) research with young fathers and family support professionalsThe COVID-19 crisis has placed unique restrictions on social researchers in terms of how they conduct their research. It has also created opportunities for adaptation and critical reflection on methodological practice. This article considers how the unanticipated use of remote qualitative methods impacted processes of research connection and connectivity in qualitative (longitudinal) research. The reflections are based on fieldwork conducted for a qualitative longitudinal study about the parenting journeys and support needs of young fathers. We elaborate our key strategies and provide worked examples of how the research team modified their methods and responded in the crisis context. First, we consider questions of connection when seeking to (re)establish and retain connections with project stakeholders and marginalised participants through the pivot to remote methods. Second, we reflect on how processes of maintaining participation and interaction were impacted by practical and technological issues associated with the digitally mediated forms of connectivity available....
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Academic freedom in contemporary Britain: A cause for concern?Using comparable legal information, and empirical data from over 2000 members of the UK's University and College Union and 2000 staff in universities of the European states, gathered by means of similar surveys, this paper is a comparative assessment of the de jure protection for, and the de facto levels of, academic freedom enjoyed by academic staff in the UK, when compared to their EU counterparts. The paper examines the legal and constitutional protection for academic freedom and the current levels of, and changes to, the two substantive elements (freedom to teach and freedom to research) and three supportive components (autonomy, governance and tenure) of academic freedom. The study reveals that UK academic staff believe that there is a low level of protection for academic freedom and that it has declined, both in general, and with respect to the two substantive elements and three supportive components of academic freedom. Similar trends are evident in the EU states, but statistical tests reveal that for every measure utilised, the decline in academic freedom is significantly greater in the UK than in the EU states University of Lincoln, College of Social Science Research...
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Testing Mate Choice Hypotheses in a Transitional Small Scale PopulationTests of theories of mate choice often rely on data gathered in White, industrialised samples and this is especially the case for studies of facial attraction. Our understanding of preferences for sexual dimorphism is currently in flux and a number of hypotheses require testing in more diverse participant samples. The current study uses opportunistically gathered facial dimorphism preference data from 271 participants in rural Nicaragua, and 40 from the national capital Managua. We assess pre-registered hypotheses drawn from sexual selection theory, and from more recent approaches which consider the impacts of economic development and cultural ‘modernisation’ on mate preferences. University of Lincoln, College of Social Science Research...
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Internet memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential coping mechanism for anxietyThis study examined whether significantly anxious individuals differed from non-anxious individuals in their perceptual ratings of internet memes related to the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst considering the mediating role of emotion regulation. Eighty individuals presenting clinically significant anxiety symptoms (indicating ≥ 15 on the GAD-7) and 80 non-anxious controls (indicating ≤ 4) rated the emotional valance, humour, relatability, shareability, and offensiveness of 45 Covid-19 internet memes. A measure of emotion regulation difficulties was also completed. The perception of humour, relatability, and shareability were all greater amongst anxious individuals relative to non-anxious controls. These differences were not mediated by emotion regulation deficits. Internet memes related to the current Covid-19 pandemic may tentatively serve as coping mechanism for individuals experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety....
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Barriers and facilitators to implementing a cancer risk assessment tool (QCancer) in primary care: a qualitative studyAim:We aimed to explore service users’ and primary care practitioners’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to implementing a cancer risk assessment tool (RAT), QCancer, in general practice consultations. Background:Cancer RATs, including QCancer, are designed to estimate the chances of previously undiagnosed cancer in symptomatic individuals. Little is known about the barriers and facilitators to implementing cancer RATs in primary care consultations. Methods:We used a qualitative design, conducting semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups with a convenience sample of service users and primary care practitioners....
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Intergroup lethal gang attacks in wild crested macaques, Macaca nigraLethal gang attacks, in which multiple aggressors attack a single victim, are among the most widespread forms of violence between human groups. Gang attacks are also frequent in some other social mammals, such as chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, wolves, Canis lupus, spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta, and meerkats, Suricata suricatta. So far, species in which gang attacks have been observed share one or more of these socioecological features: territoriality, fission–fusion, cooperative breeding or coalitionary bonds. However, the scarcity of data in other taxa makes it challenging to determine whether one/all of these socioecological features is necessary and sufficient to drive the evolution of gang attacks. Here we describe the first reports of intergroup gang attacks in the crested macaque, using data on three groups collected over 13 years, with the joint observation times for the three groups summing to 37 years. Crested macaque gangs attacked outgroup conspecifics when aggressors were numerically superior to victims. Adult females were the most frequent age/sex category to attack outgroup conspecifics. The victims were mostly adult females and infants. We propose that coalitionary bonds, hostility towards outgroup individuals and the ability to estimate numerical odds may suffice to trigger intergroup gang attacks when the conditions favour an imbalance of power between victims and attackers....