Globally, increasing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination coverage remains a major public health concern in the face of high rates of COVID-19 hesitancy among the general population. We must understand the impact of the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake when designing national vaccination programmes. We aimed to synthesise nationwide evidence regarding COVID-19 infodemics and the demographic, psychological, and social predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake. We systematically searched seven databases between July 2021 and March 2022 to retrieve relevant articles published since COVID-19 was first reported on 31 December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Of the 12,502 peer-reviewed articles retrieved from the databases, 57 met the selection criteria and were included in this systematic review. We explored COVID-19 vaccine uptake determinants before and after the first COVID-19 vaccine roll-out by the Food and Drug Authority (FDA). Increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake rates were associated with decreased hesitancy. Concerns about COVID-19 vaccine safety, negative side effects, rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine, and uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness were associated with reluctance to be vaccinated. After the US FDA approval of COVID-19 vaccines, phobia of medical procedures such as vaccine injection and inadequate information about vaccines were the main determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Addressing effectiveness and safety concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccines, as well as providing adequate information about vaccines and the impacts of pandemics, should be considered before implementation of any vaccination programme. Reassuring people about the safety of medical vaccination and using alternative procedures such as needle-free vaccination may help further increase vaccination uptake.

Instances of non‐consensual sex (NCS) among men are highly under‐reported. The research that has been conducted into this issue shows, however, that men who have sex with men experience higher rates of NCS than do other men and that these men are likely not to report that they have been subjected to NCS largely because there are no support systems in place for them. For a long time, there has been an expectation that while men might perpetrate acts of sexual violence against women, they cannot be the victims of such acts. These factors are compounded for Maori men who experience NCS. These men report that they suffer a range of long‐term health effects and that they are unable to access culturally appropriate services to help overcome the effects of these negative health outcomes. At the same time, Maori men report that they have managed to find support within their cultural networks. Support services for Maori men who experience NCS need to be established and they need to incorporate appropriate cultural components into their processes and services.

Background: Context-specific standardized psychometric instruments are essential for ensuring valid and reliable assessment of health outcomes across diverse populations to aid the advancement of research and health-related interventions. However, instruments measuring attitudes toward vaccinations are lacking in the extant literature. Therefore, we performed a cross-cultural adaptation of the Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) in Germany. Method: During the months of June and July 2022, 475 individuals aged 18 years and older from the general population of Germany participated in an online cross-sectional survey. Participants responded to five demographic questions, a measure of COVID-19 vaccine uptake willingness, and the MoVac-COVID19S. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) fit indices were used to evaluate the factor structures of the MoVac-COVID19S. Results: The CFA revealed that all examined factor structures of both the 9-item and 12-item versions of the MoVac-COVID19S were acceptable among the sample. Overall, CFI, GFI, and TLI values were higher than 0.95; RMSEA and SRMR values were all less than 0.08 for all the estimated models. The one-factor model of the 9-item version of the MoVac-COVID19S exhibited best fits indices compared to the one-factor and four-factor structures of the 12-item version of the scale. The bifactor model revealed that the general factor explained a higher percentage of the Explained Common Variance (ECV; ranging from 55% to 94%) in the majority of the items, compared to the specific factors. The scale was found to demonstrate convergent validity with related measures. Conclusion: The German version of the MoVac-COVID19S should be considered a unidimensional rather than a multidimensional measure. Although the 9-item version of the scale performed better among the sample compared to the 12-item version, the overall scores of both versions were found to be valid and reliable measures of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations. The MoVac-COVID19S has the potential to be adapted for assessing attitudes toward any future vaccination programs. Limitations: While our study sampled only the general German population, the criticisms of CFA warrant further research using advanced methods, such as the Rasch model, and subgroups.

Objectives: Precise measurement of self-compassion is essential for informing well-being–related policies. Traditional assessment methods have led to inconsistencies in the factor structure of self-compassion scales. We used Rasch methodology to enhance measurement precision and assess the psychometric properties of the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF), including its invariance across Ghana, Germany, India, and New Zealand. Method: We employed the Partial Credit Rasch model to analyse responses obtained from 1000 individuals randomly selected (i.e. 250 from each country) from a total convenience sample of 1822 recruited from the general populations of Germany, Ghana, India, and New Zealand. Results: The initial identification of local dependency among certain items led to a significant misfitting of the SCS-SF to the Rasch model (χ² (108) = 260.26, p < 0.001). We addressed this issue by merging locally dependent items, using testlets. The solution with three testlets resulted in optimal fit of the SCS-SF to the Rasch model (χ² (27) = 23.84, p = 0.64), showing evidence of unidimensionality, strong sample targeting (M = 0.20; SD = 0.72), and good reliability (Person Separation Index = 0.71), including invariance across sociodemographic factors. We then developed ordinal-to-interval conversion tables based on the Rasch model’s person estimates. The SCS-SF showed positive correlations with measures of compassion towards others, optimism, and positive affect, alongside negative associations with psychological distress and negative affect. Conclusions: The current study supports the reliability, as well as the structural, convergent, and external validity of the SCS-SF. By employing the ordinal-to-interval conversion tables published here, the precision of the measure is significantly enhanced, offering a robust tool for investigating self-compassion across different cultures.

The vision statement of Te Reo o Taranaki, “Tuku reo, tuku mouri: language, culture, crossing generations”, embodies the essence of an understanding of mouri which goes beyond the simple dictionary translations of “life force” or “life essence”. Indeed, there are numerous oral narratives—whakataukī (proverbs), waiata (songs), haka (dance), karanga (ceremonial call), whaikōrero (formal speech), karakia (prayers and incantations)—from the present day to our earliest records of Māori history that engage the notion of mouri. The purpose of this paper is to examine current understandings of mouri and, by linking the concept with linguistic, cultural and intergenerational terms—as in the Taranaki example—it will be argued that mouri is something of significance to our “being” and to our wellbeing.