Background: Adolescence is a time when beliefs and values are developed and when the influences of the significant others take shape in the life of the future young adult and manifest themselves in affecting the level of religiosity. Apart from other factors, the relationship between adolescents and parents is essential for understanding the development of religiosity. Although numerous studies show an association between the religiosity of parents and adolescents’ beliefs and practices, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the mechanism of religious socialization within the family. Purpose: This study seeks to explain how adolescents’ religious beliefs and participation relates to the religiosity of significant others, relationship with their parents and other individual factors such as gender and parents’ education and occupation. Methods: As part of the Youth in Europe programe, a questionnaire-based study was conducted in 108 randomly selected classes from 84 high-schools in Bucharest, Romania. Data from 2604 respondents was used to identify the factors associated with religiosity at the individual, familial and social environment level of high school students. Results: The main findings reveal that adolescents with better relationships with their parents are more religious in terms of religious beliefs and religious participation than those with lesser relationships. Girls show a higher level of individual religiosity than boys, but boys attend more often religious services. Furthermore, adolescents coming from families with lower socioeconomic status have higher scores on religious beliefs, but they score lower on religious participation. Conclusions and Implications: Adolescents’ religiosity relates to/associates with many variables, being a dynamic process. Its understanding resides in studying the complexity of relationships that shape the development of religious belief and behavior.

In this paper, we describe an actuator-based EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) virtual assistant system that can be used for the treatment of participants with traumatic memories. EMDR is a psychological therapy designed to treat emotional distress caused by a traumatic event from the past, most frequently in post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. We implemented a system based on video, tactile, and audio actuators which includes an artificial intelligence chatbot, making the system capable of acting autonomously. We tested the system on a sample of 31 participants. Our results showed the efficiency of the EMDR virtual assistant system in reducing anxiety, distress, and negative cognitions and emotions associated with the traumatic memory. There are no such systems reported in the existing literature. Through the present research, we fill this gap by describing a system that can be used by patients with traumatic memories.

The last decade, and more specifically the COVID-19 pandemic, has created a favorable environment for digitalization, which has become a necessary condition in the context of how everyday life is conducted. Even if digital communication and services have become a trend and help brand–customer relationships, brands still have more gaps to close. The purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers’ behaviors and digital interactions impact their shopping well-being and quality of life, and how the level of customer complaining effort affects the relationship between digital behavior and quality of life. This research provides practical implications for companies and marketers that offer digital services and technologies, helping them design and deliver more effective and customer-centric digital experiences. Additionally, it contributes to the growing interest in how digital services and technologies can improve consumer experiences and quality of life. This study surveyed 331 respondents in Romania. Results show that digital behavior influences consumers’ shopping well-being and comes with insights that strengthen the importance of reducing consumers’ cognitive and procedural effort in order to increase their quality of life. The paper discusses the implications for brands that must design easy experiences to gain more loyal customers, the study’s implications and novelty for the warranty area.

Early detection of frailty is one of the main challenges in the world we live in. Being aware of physiologic and behavior changes can predict and prevent the onset of mental complications for older people. By using modern technologies, one can get insights, which may help detection of different pathologies. In this paper, preliminary results for a novel system to detect early signs of frailty are presented. A prototype was developed and tested in laboratory conditions after requirements and functional capabilities were defined. The main advantages of the proposed architecture are the usage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and custom mechanisms of security to assure a high level of confidentiality and integrity of user-specific data. Other original elements are its easy-to-use and non-intrusive characteristics.

There is a growing body of evidence for the interrelation between health status and religious beliefs. Our aim was to evaluate the level of religiosity in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and to assess the link between religiosity and measurable health outcomes. This was an observational, single-center study which included patients with moderate-to-severe forms of COVID-19. A total of 112 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 77 were highly religious (CRS-15 score ≥ 4) and 35 non-highly religious (CRS-15 score < 4). There was no difference in demographics or prevalence of comorbidities between the two groups. Furthermore, we found no difference between groups in radiological extension of lung lesions, length of hospital stays, or ICU need; however, in-hospital mortality rate was significantly lower in highly religious group (1% vs. 14%, p = 0.005). Serum ferritin level at admission was significantly lower (p = 0.03) and prevalence of post-COVID-19 pulmonary sequelae significantly higher in highly religious group (p = 0.02).

Starting with the 2017-2018 school year, secondary school students benefit from a new curriculum framework and new subject curricula, which facilitate curriculum integration. During the literature review, we noticed that the results of some international studies show that curriculum integration contributes to increasing school motivation. Through our research, which took place during the 2019-2020 school year, we aimed to identify the impact of curriculum integration on the school motivation of secondary school students and their perception regarding curriculum integration. For this, we designed a questionnaire with 16 closed items that we applied at the beginning and the end of the school year to a sample of 117 students from three Bucharest schools. The results of our research show a positive change in the reasons why students learn and in four of the nine behaviors associated with the characteristics of school motivation (curiosity, active engagement, and persistence). Thus, interest in multiple disciplines increased and all persistence behaviors improved. Regarding the students’ perception regarding the curriculum integration, from the six monitored aspects, there was a positive change in the students’ interest in the disciplines with which the teacher makes connections during the teaching of the current discipline.