The young women's network: a case study in community development

While young women have been found to be at additional risk for psychological morbidity after a breast cancer diagnosis, their specific needs in relation to support are not well described. A community development approach was utilized to develop the Young Women's Network, a peer support programme for young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer that addresses their specific psychological and social needs. Central to this approach was the key role of the target group in both the definition of the problem and the generation of the solutions. This article describes the steps involved in developing this programme and guidelines for health professionals and community members who may wish to replicate either the Young Women's Network or this particular approach to programme development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Race,resource utilisation,and perceived need among urban community development workers from faith-based organisations

Organisations providing social services in communities of high crime and violence must address staff well-being. The current study surveyed 284 urban community development workers from faith-based organisations in five US cities. The study explored the effects of race and ethnicity on service utilisation and perceived need using binomial logistic regression. Race and ethnicity significantly predicted medical service utilisation, indicating that Caucasian participants were five times more likely and African-American participants were 3.8 times more likely than Latino/a participants to utilise medical services. Race and ethnicity did not predict differences in use of psychological or spiritual services, nor of perceived need for services. Furthermore, volunteer staffs were approximately four times more likely than paid staff to report self-addressing their psychological and spiritual needs rather than utilising services, despite a felt need for support. Barriers to resource utilisation and implications for policies and practices of urban community development organisations are discussed.     

Meaning of work among a sample of Kuwaiti workers

The study tested the meaning of work among 340 Kuwaiti workers in the public sector. A questionnaire was constructed to measure meaning of work by drawing 46 items from existing scales and from the meaning of work literature. They were put together, translated into Arabic, and adapted to be relevant to Kuwaiti society. Analysis showed the developed scale has acceptable reliability and validity coefficients for Kuwaiti workers. Also, Kuwaiti workers gave priority to extrinsic rewards from work, then intrinsic rewards, whereas Work Centrality had the lowest priority. Sex, occupation, and the intention not to change one's job in the future were significantly related to the meaning which these workers attributed to their work.     

Work values among Lebanese workers

On the basis of a review of the existing literature, the authors tested 4 hypotheses to determine the applicability of work values in Arab societies to employees in Lebanese organizations. Only 1 hypothesis was supported: Organizational policies that ran counter to the worker's religious values had an adverse effect on job satisfaction. There was no support for the hypotheses (a) that workers' religiosity in inversely related to positive attitudes toward women's involvement at work, (b) that employee satisfaction is related to a mechanistic organizational design, or (c) that workers with an internal locus of control experience higher job satisfaction. The Lebanese workers, thus, did not appear to share some of the attributes claimed to exist in Arab societies.     

HIV-related stigma among market workers in China.

HIV-related stigma was examined among 209 employees and owners of stalls in 5 markets in an eastern coastal city in China. Of the participants 53% were women and 47% were men; 100% were Han. Ages ranged from 18 to 49 years (M=35, SD=8.1). Half of the participants believed that punishment was an appropriate response toward those living with HIV (50%). Over half (56%) were unwilling to be friends with infected individuals. The majority thought that those living with HIV should be isolated (73%). They agreed that persons living with HIV should not take care of other people's children (85%). Punishing beliefs toward persons living with HIV were related to being male, older, married, less educated, and unwilling to be tested for HIV.     

Socioeconomic and sociocultural determinants of psychological distress and quality of life among patients with psoriasis in a selected multi-ethnic Malaysian population

Patients with psoriasis may have increased risk of psychological comorbidities. This cross-sectional study aimed at determining associations between sociocultural and socioeconomic factors with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) scores and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores. Adult patients with psoriasis were recruited from a Dermatology outpatient clinic via convenience sampling. Interviews were conducted regarding socio-demographic factors and willing subjects were requested to complete the DASS and DLQI questionnaires. The Pearson χ² test, Fisher’s exact test and multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis to determine independent predictors of depression, anxiety, stress and severe impairment of quality of life. Unadjusted analysis revealed that depression was associated with Indian ethnicity (p = .041) and severe impairment of quality of life was associated with Indian ethnicity (p = .032), higher education (p = .013), higher income (p = .042), and employment status (p = .014). Multivariate analysis revealed that Indian ethnicity was a predictor of depression (p = .024). For stress, tertiary level of education (p = .020) was an independent risk factor while a higher monthly income was a protective factor (p = .042). The ethnic Indians and Malays were significantly more likely than the ethnic Chinese to suffer reduced quality of life (p = .001 and p = .006 respectively) and subjects with tertiary education were more likely to have severe impairment of quality of life (p = .002). Our study was unique in determining sociocultural influences on psychological complications of psoriasis in a South East Asian population. This has provided invaluable insight into factors predictive of adverse effects of psoriasis on psychological distress and quality of life in our patient population. Future studies should devise interventions to specifically target at risk groups in the development of strategies to reduce morbidity associated with psoriasis.     

Acculturative stress among young immigrants in Norway

The study examined the relationship between migration and the incidence of emotional disorders among 568 young Third World immigrants in Norway. Participants were 10–17 years of age. Using a questionnaire, acculturative stress (i.e., change in health status as a result of acculturation) was found to exist among the children, although having to migrate or being born in Norway was not related to mental health status. A stressful acculturative experience (i.e., difficulties in initiating friendship with Norwegian peers) alone could account for only 1% of the self reported emotional disorders. Incidence of depressive tendencies, poor self image, and psychological and somatic symptoms were found to be related to close and supportive parents, marginality, integration, gender and the number of friends the child had. These accounted for between 12 and 15% of the explained variance. The paper theoretically discusses how these factors may be related to acculturative stress, and recommends them as starting points for a primary intervention program to reduce emotional disorders among these children.     

Health and well-being among teenage mothers in a rural South African community

This study sought to identify patterns of general health symptoms and coping abilities among school-going teenage mothers in the central region of Limpopo province, South Africa. The participants were 56 teenage mothers and 56 typically developing girls or non-mother peers (age range 16 to 19 years). They attended school ranging from grades 8 to 12. The participants completed the General Health Questionnaire and Coping Strategy Scale. Data were analysed utilising between group t-test comparison statistics. The findings suggest teenage mothers experience fewer somatic symptoms than typical peers. In addition, there was no significant difference between teenage mothers and peers on anxiety, social dysfunction, depression and coping strategies scores. Generally, teenage mothers experienced fewer general health symptoms than non-mother peers.     

Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model

A new 4-group model of attachment styles in adulthood is proposed. Four prototypic attachment patterns are defined using combinations of a person's self-image (positive or negative) and image of others (positive or negative). In Study 1, an interview was developed to yield continuous and categorical ratings of the 4 attachment styles. Intercorrelations of the attachment ratings were consistent with the proposed model. Attachment ratings were validated by self-report measures of self-concept and interpersonal functioning. Each style was associated with a distinct profile of interpersonal problems, according to both self- and friend-reports. In Study 2, attachment styles within the family of origin and with peers were assessed independently. Results of Study 1 were replicated. The proposed model was shown to be applicable to representations of family relations; Ss' attachment styles with peers were correlated with family attachment ratings.     

Adjusting to work: Workplace mobility of young male workers in Israel

The study focuses on some of the correlates of workplace mobility of male workers aged 15 to 17, mostly apprentices, who were registered with the Skilled Department of the Youth Employment Bureau (Y.E.B.) for at least a year prior to the time of the field study. Data regarding these correlates, and longitudinal data concerning the sequence of job movements, were obtained in an interview held with a sample of those youths who resided in Tel-Aviv metropolitan area (n = 146) and from the Y.E.B.'s forms filled out in connection with their registration and job placements. Several measures of sociodemographic background, past work experience and present working conditions were included in the multiple correlation analysis. Controlling for longevity in the labor force, seniority in the first job emerged as the most efficient predictor of workplace mobility. Results suggest that the early stages of a young worker's process of occupational socialization are of importance in determining his future career decisions.     

Family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder in a community sample of young adolescents

A two-stage epidemiologic study conducted between 1986 and 1988 in the southeastern United States investigated family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subclinical OCD in young adolescents. In the first stage, a life-event schedule and a family adaptability and cohesion scale were administered to a community sample of 3,283 adolescents. In stage two, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia in School Age Children and the Children's Global Assessment Scale were administered to 488 mother-child pairs. In multivariable models family cohesion was the only significant correlate of OCD (odds ratio=0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.91–0.98). Gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, guardian status, adaptability, undesirable life events and desirable life events were not found to be significant predictors of OCD in models adjusting for cohesion. Note of the above variables were significantly associated with subclinical OCD. However, separate analyses of the 41 individual life events indicated seven specific events were significantly associated with OCD or subclinical OCD. These findings are at odds with the theory that overinvolvement of family members is a risk factor for OCD, though an association with overly rigid family structure cannot be eliminated based on these data. Further exploration of family characteristics is warranted.     

Self-reported physical aggression among young men

This article describes two studies involving a questionnaire asking about the circumstances, antecedents, and consequences of the most recent fight among samples of young men (100 students in Study I; 88 students and 87 unemployed men in Study II). In Study I, the students alos completed a standard aggression questionnaire and one concerning masculine values to assess whether measures of physical aggressiveness were associated with traditional masculine role norms. There was a weak association with physical aggressiveness but not with reported fights. Students with traditionally masculine interests did report more fights. In Study II, both subsamples showed significant correlations between a masculine role subscale involving toughness from this study were primarily assessed in relation to hyphotheses derived from Darwinian sexual selection theory: that fights between young men are likely to arise from threats to personal integrity and status, women, and resoureces; that fights will be more related to social status and be more damageing among the unemployed men than the students. In line with these predictions, insults were a potent cause of fights in both samples, but public humiliation was a more common reason among the unemployed men, Money or property was more often a reason for fighting among the unemployed men also showed higher levels of anger and physical aggression (but not verbal aggression) on a standard aggression questionnaire. Other differences included the location of the fight, but there were no significant differences between the two samples in whether or not a fight had occured in the last 5 years. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Explanatory style differences in health literacy: a survey among young adults in Taiwan

Explanatory styles are related to individuals’ positive health management. Everyone interprets and thinks about issues differently; therefore, medical information is understood in different ways. This study explored the relationship of optimistic and positive views on health literacy. A survey method was used to collect information from 342 university students. This study used PLS2.0 and SPSS 18.0 for data analysis. The results indicated that optimists had more accurate self-reported health status and medication-taking and nutritional knowledge than pessimists did. Females had higher scores on health knowledge and medication-taking and nutritional knowledge than males. In addition, female optimists had better performance on self-reported health status and health and medication-taking knowledge than female pessimists did. The major contribution of this study is the confirmation of the effect of explanatory style on health literacy.     

Decreasing bouts of prolonged sitting among office workers

Many workers in industrialized nations spend their day seated at a desk. Research suggests that accumulated sitting time increases risk for certain diseases (van der Ploeg, Chey, Korda, Banks, & Bauman, 2012). To reduce risk, health researchers recommend frequent standing or walking breaks during the workday. In the current study, we evaluated 3 behavioral interventions to decrease bouts of prolonged sitting among office workers. Information alone was not as effective as a treatment package that consisted of a tactile prompt, feedback, and goal setting.     

Psychopathic personality traits in relational aggression among young adults

Psychopathy is a robust predictor of overt physical aggression that may also be relevant to relational aggression (RA). This study was conducted to investigate the utility of psychopathic personality traits in the prediction of RA in a sample of 291 college students. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that both primary and secondary psychopathic traits explained additional variance in general/peer and romantic RA beyond physical aggressiveness. Consistent with previous research, no gender differences were found on either form of RA, challenging the popular stereotype of RA as a female behavior. Moreover, psychopathic traits were not differentially predictive of RA by gender or level of physical aggressiveness. Implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.