Afrocentric paradigms reflect assumptions of the overarching importance of interconnectedness and social bonds in meaningful experiences. It is, however, not known if types of relatedness vary in importance as meaning sources in the subjective experiences of laypeople, or what the reasons are that they ascribe to the importance of relationships. The empirical and theoretical substantiation of philosophical assumptions is needed to provide a scientific basis for appropriate well-being interventions in African contexts. Therefore, this study aimed to empirically explore the relative importance of various types of relationships as sources of meaning and in particular why relationships are important to laypeople in relatively collectivist African contexts. Using a bottomup qualitative approach with quantification of responses, this study explored how prominently relationships featured as meaning sources compared to other domains of life and then, in particular, the motivations for the importance of various types of relationships as found in four African samples: a Ghanaian urban group (n = 389), a South African multicultural, English-speaking urban group (n = 585), and two South African Setswana-speaking groups (n = 512 rural, n = 380 urban). Findings showed that the relational domains of life, namely, family, interpersonal relations, spirituality/religion, and community/society, made up a large proportion of responses on what provides meaning in life−in particular family and spirituality/religion with community/society occurring the least. The reasons for meaning experienced in various relationship types included domain-typical relational descriptors, such as contributions made or rewards received. However, many intrapersonal motives also emerged: inner well-being, happiness, joy, a sense of competence, and own growth. Material needs and harmony also surfaced as motivations for relational importance. Findings are aligned with African philosophical perspectives as far as the importance of relationships and the value attached to spirituality/religion are concerned, but contributed additionally by showing that different types of relationships vary in importance: close relationships are

This prospective study investigated the association between nutrient intake, dietary patterns, and changes in bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal urban black South African women over two years. These women (n = 144) underwent BMD measurements at the distal radius, lumbar spine, femoral neck (FN), as well as a biochemical analysis which included the parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25-hydroxyvitamin D, C-Telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-1) in 2010 and 2012. Their dietary intake was assessed in 2010 using a food frequency questionnaire, and sociodemographic and health information was collected. Four dietary patterns explained 54.4% of the variance of dietary intake, namely staple foods and processed meats, home cooking, snacking, and high sugar. Dietary magnesium negatively correlated with CTx-1 in 2012 (r = −0.21, p = 0.02), calcium correlated with distal radius BMD in 2010 (r = 0.22, p = 0.01) and 2012 (r = 0.24, p = 0.005), and the snacking dietary pattern score correlated with FN BMD in 2010 (r = 0.18, p = 0.03) and 2012 (r = 0.21, p = 0.02). The baseline CTx-1 and dietary magnesium intake predicted 22% of the variance in percentage change of CTx-1 over two years (p < 0.001).The magnesium intake predicted short-term bone resorption over two years.

This paper proposes a new method to model loss given default (LGD) for IFRS 9 purposes. We develop two models for the purposes of this paper—LGD1 and LGD2. The LGD1 model is applied to the non-default (performing) accounts and its empirical value based on a specified reference period using a lookup table. We also segment this across the most important variables to obtain a more granular estimate. The LGD2 model is applied to defaulted accounts and we estimate the model by means of an exposure weighted logistic regression. This newly developed LGD model is tested on a secured retail portfolio from a bank. We compare this weighted logistic regression (WLR) (under the assumption of independence) with generalised estimating equations (GEEs) to test the effects of disregarding the dependence among the repeated observations per account. When disregarding this dependence in the application of WLR, the standard errors of the parameter estimates are underestimated. However, the practical effect of this implementation in terms of model accuracy is found to be negligible. The main advantage of the newly developed methodology is the simplicity of this well-known approach, namely logistic regression of binned variables, resulting in a scorecard format.

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The dimensionality of the Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB) has been a topic of debate and divergent findings in the literature up to date. This study investigated the factor structure and measurement invariance of the QEWB in four culturally diverse South African samples using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bifactor CFA, exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM), and bifactor ESEM. Three student samples completed the English (n = 326), Afrikaans (n = 478), or Setswana (n = 260) version of the QEWB. An adult sample (n = 262) completed the English version. The one-factor structure revealed poor fit for the student samples. Although the four-factor models generally showed slightly better fit than the three-factor models, the latter was preferred for parsimony. The bifactor ESEM model displayed good fit for the student samples, with the general factor and some specific factors attaining sufficient reliability scores, pointing to the potential use of the scale in these samples. Configural invariance between the student samples was supported, but not metric nor scalar invariance. For the adult sample, none of the models displayed good fit and the use of the QEWB in this sample is not recommended. The results point towards the existence of a global eudaimonic well-being factor and, at the same time, the interrelatedness of facets of eudaimonic well-being. It suggests that eudaimonic well-being may be represented by the same items across the three student groups. The influence of developmental phase on the manifestation and measurement of eudaimonic well-being should be explored in future.