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Article History

Received: 29 April 2025

Accepted: 12 February 2026

First Online: 25 February 2026

Informed consent

: Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their participation in the study. Participants were recruited through face-to-face distribution of questionnaires in public and institutional settings, including universities, community centers, and workplaces in Pakistan. Before completing the questionnaire, each participant was provided with a clear explanation of the study’s purpose, the voluntary nature of participation, the procedures involved, and the intended use of the collected data. Written informed consent was obtained at the time of questionnaire administration by the research team from November 2024 to January 2025. Participants were informed that their responses would remain anonymous, and no personally identifiable information would be collected. Furthermore, participants could withdraw from the study at any point without any consequences. Consent covered participation in the study, anonymized data analysis, and publication of aggregated findings. As the study was non-interventional and involved only adult participants, no additional consent procedures for vulnerable populations or legal guardians were required.

: This study involved human participants and received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Panel of Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Approval Reference No. RO/06-01-00/113), granted on 17-10-2024, prior to the commencement of data collection. Although data were collected in Pakistan, ethical review was conducted by the authors’ host academic institution, which has jurisdiction over the research design, data collection procedures, and data management protocols. The ethics committee evaluated the study as non-interventional, low-risk social science research involving anonymous adult participants. All research procedures were conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments, including Article 23 (paragraph 3), ensuring independent ethical review, protection of participants’ rights, voluntary participation, confidentiality, and data protection. The scope of approval covered participant recruitment, informed consent procedures, questionnaire administration, anonymized data handling, and statistical analysis.

: The authors declare no competing interests.