Not Such a Queer Idea: Is There a Case for Same Sex Marriages?

Gay marriages (as such) are not as yet allowed anywhere but the demand for them is increasing. Most countries take a liberal attitude towards marriage: few obstacles are put in its way. But objections to gay marriages continue to be raised. These objections are refuted and the case for gay marriage is assessed through the prism of various forms of liberalism. The normative argument for allowing gay marriage is shown to be both strong and consistent with many of the values upheld by the opponents of such unions.     

Solitude in context: On the role of culture,immigration, and acculturation in the experience of time to oneself

Older adults spend much time in solitude (without social interaction), putting them at risk of loneliness, especially if aging outside their country of origin (e.g., Chinese immigrants to Canada). Yet, cultural contextual factors that may reduce loneliness in moments of solitude are poorly understood. This study sought to disentangle the roles of culture, immigration, and acculturation in solitude-loneliness associations across two countries. Community-dwelling adults aged 51–85 in Vancouver (N = 58 East Asian, N = 37 European/North American) and in Hong Kong (N = 56 East/Southeast Asian) completed approximately 30 ecological momentary assessments over 10 days on their current affect and social situations. Participants in Vancouver spent more time in solitude, desired solitude more, and felt less lonely overall than those in Hong Kong. Multilevel models revealed that moments of solitude felt lonelier than moments spent in social interaction, but only for individuals less acculturated to their host culture or not concurrently desiring solitude. Associations held regardless of host culture, cultural heritage, or immigration status. Findings suggest that solitude need not feel lonely if it happens by choice and if individuals feel connected with their host culture, for both immigrant older adults and those aging in their birth country.     

Contextual conditioning and reinstatement of extinguished instrumental responding

In three experiments we studied the relationship between contextual conditioning and the reinstatement of extinguished lever pressing that occurs when noncontingent food is introduced following extinction. In all three experiments the non-contingent food was presented off-baseline (with the response levers not present). On subsequent tests, with the response levers present, animals that had been exposed to food showed more reinstatement of lever pressing than control animals. This finding rules out alternative mechanisms for the reinstated responding that rely on the interaction of non-contingent food and responding, such as superstitious reinforcement or the discriminative after-effects of food. In addition, in each experiment we demonstrated that manipulations known to affect contextual conditioning (signalling the food in Experiment 1, context extinction in Experiment 2, and switching contexts in Experiment 3) reduced the reinstatement. These results are consistent with the claim that contextual conditioning is important in controlling instrumental conditioning and closely parallel findings concerning the reinstatement of Pavlovian responsing following extinction.     

Randomized controlled trial of an intervention to prevent adherence failure among HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy.

OBJECTIVE: Compare the efficacy of a multicomponent social support intervention to standard-of-care counseling on medication adherence among HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. Generalized estimating equations tested for differences in the percentage of participants achieving 90% adherence. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pill-taking, electronically monitored over 6 consecutive months; plasma viral load (VL), assessed at 3 and 6 months following initiation of therapy. RESULTS: Of 226 participants who were randomized and began the trial, 87 (38%) were lost to the study by 6 months. The proportion of adherent participants declined steadily over time, with no time by group interaction. Sustained adherence was associated with increased odds of achieving an undetectable VL (OR=1.78; 95% CI=1.01, 3.13). In intention-to-treat analyses, a larger proportion of the intervention group than the control group was adherent (40.15% vs. 27.59%, p=.02) and achieved an undetectable VL p=.04). However, the majority of participants who remained on study experienced some reduction in VL (>or=1-log drop or undetectable), regardless of experimental condition. CONCLUSION: The multicomponent social support intervention significantly improved medication adherence over standard-of-care counseling; evidence for improved virologic outcomes was inconsistent. Early discontinuation of care and treatment may be a greater threat to the health of HIV patients than imperfect medication-taking.     

Unfolding Relations among Mindful Parenting,Recurrent Conflict,and Adolescents’ Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

The current study examined unfolding relations among mothers’ mindful parenting, parent–adolescent recurrent conflict, and adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing problems. In a community sample of 117 families (31% black, Asian, American Indian, or Latino), parents and adolescents (52% female; average age = 12.13 years) were followed over 15 months. Parents answered questions about mindful parenting and recurrent conflict, and adolescents reported on their own externalizing and internalizing problems. Path analyses indicated that higher levels of mindful parenting were significantly related to lower levels of recurrent conflict 2–3 months later, controlling for previous levels of recurrent conflict. Moreover, lower levels of recurrent conflict were significantly related to lower levels of externalizing problems and internalizing problems 1 year later, controlling for previous levels of those problems. Subgroup analyses indicated that relations were comparable across subgroups defined by adolescent gender, race, parent marital status, and family financial strain. The effects of mindful parenting were robust even after accounting for other indicators of positive and supportive parenting, namely inductive reasoning and warmth in the parent–adolescent relationship. These findings highlight the potential of mindful parenting to improve family interactions and adolescent adjustment.     

The role of illness uncertainty on coping with fibromyalgia symptoms.

This study examined the role of illness uncertainty in pain coping among women with fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic pain condition of unknown origin. Fifty-one FM participants completed initial demographic and illness uncertainty questionnaires and underwent 10-12 weekly interviews regarding pain, coping difficulty, and coping efficacy. Main outcome measures included weekly levels of difficulty coping with FM symptoms and coping efficacy. Multilevel analyses indicated that pain elevations for those high in illness uncertainty predicted increases in coping difficulty. Furthermore, when participants had more difficulty coping, they reported lower levels of coping efficacy. Results were consistent with hypothesized effects. Illness uncertainty accompanied by episodic pain negatively influenced coping efficacy, an important resource in adaptation to FM.