A Qualitative Exploration of Sleep Habits and Intervention Needs Among Youth with Cystic Fibrosis

Evidence suggests that individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) experience difficulties with sleep architecture and hygiene, although research is limited. There are currently no behavioral sleep interventions for youth with CF. The current study used qualitative methods to understand sleep needs and concerns among youth with CF, as well as to obtain feedback about potentially useful behavioral sleep intervention strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with youth with CF between the ages of 11–17 and their parents. Themes were extracted from the data and will be used to inform the development of a brief behavioral sleep intervention for youth with CF. Youth and their parents described several CF-specific sleep concerns, often related to respiratory symptoms, and a number of strategies used to manage these concerns. They also described concerns that apply to the general population, including pervasive use of technology around bedtime. Many evidence-based behavioral sleep intervention strategies are acceptable to youth with CF, although modifications are appropriate to reduce time burden and address CF-specific needs. Youth with CF experience a number of disease-specific and more generalized sleep concerns which are likely amenable to behavioral intervention. Results from this study will be used to inform the development of a brief behavioral sleep intervention for youth with CF.

     

What Looks Like Sexism and Why? The Effect of Comment Type and Perpetrator Type on Women's Perceptions of Sexism

ABSTRACT. Sexist comments are not perceived equally in the eyes of women. We extend previous research by examining the degree to which multiple types of potentially sexist comments made by multiple types of men are perceived as sexist. Further, we examine the degree to which three possible mediators—prototypicality, perceived intent, and interdependence—explained these effects. Female undergraduate students (N = 248) were randomly assigned to read a scenario in which a hostile sexist, benevolent sexist, or objectifying comment was made by one of three types of men: a stranger, their boss, or their boyfriend. Results demonstrate that hostile sexism was perceived as more sexist than benevolent sexism or objectification. Comments made by boyfriends were also rated as less sexist than those made by bosses or strangers. Furthermore, perceptions of prototypicality of the comment or perpetrator and perceived intent to harm mediated the effect of study manipulations on perceptions of sexism.     

Psychometric Evaluation and Revision of Carver and White's BIS/BAS Scales in a Diverse Sample of Young Adults

The psychometric properties of the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales (Carver & White, 1994) were evaluated in a large, racially diverse sample of undergraduate students. Findings from this study indicate that the BIS/BAS scales work differently (i.e., are multidimensional and lack configural invariance) when assessing BIS and BAS in a diverse sample. Numerous model modifications were needed to obtain adequate fitting models for the total sample and individual racial groups. The findings suggest that this is due to items that assess multiple constructs differently across self-reported race categories. As part of this research, a revised version of the BIS/BAS scales was constructed that appears to be invariant across self-reported race category and simultaneously addresses the other psychometric concerns associated with the original scale. Caution should be used when applying the BIS/BAS scales as originally specified to assess behavioral inhibition and activation in a racially diverse sample. Researchers might want to use this revised version of the scale as an alternative.     

Promotion of Sexual Health and Sexual Responsibility in Women’s Health and Men’s Health Magazines

This study analyzed the promotion of sexual health and sexual responsibility in Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazines as characterized by the Surgeon General’s Call to Action along with sexual health objectives targeted by Healthy People 2020 and sexual healthy behavior outcomes established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This study also identified the most frequently addressed sexual health topics included in Women’s Health and Men’s Health. Two coders conducted a content analysis of a total of 599 articles from 64 issues (32 Women’s Health and 32 Men’s Health) published between January 2009 and November 2012. More than half of all articles addressing sexual health were found to promote sexual health (57 %). Promotion of sexual responsibility was rare with variables such as ensuring that pregnancy occurs only when desired, recognition and tolerance for diversity, limiting the number of sexual partners, and using birth control consistently each mentioned in <3 % of articles in this study sample. Among topics coded, improving sex life (29 %), what men like (19 %), and what women like (18 %) were the most common in Women’s Health while What women like (46 %), improving sex life (27 %), and other men’s sexual health (16 %) were the most frequent topics in Men’s Health. Among the least common topics mentioned were homosexuality (0.16 %) and HIV/AIDS (0.33 %). No articles addressed rape or dating violence.     

Treating Anti-social Behavior in Adolescents: A Comparison of Multi-modal and Psychodynamic Oriented Group Interventions

This study compared the efficacy of a multimodal intervention (MMI) and a psychodynamic oriented group intervention (POGI) on antisocial behavior among Nigerian adolescents. A pretest-posttest design was used. Forty-one adolescents drawn from the streets of a Nigerian city (N =20), and a state child correction facility (N=21) participated in the study. The children were randomly assigned to a MMI, POGI and waiting list control (WLC) groups. Ages ranged from 10 to 18 years (mean =14.5; SD=2.1). Data collected were analyzed using multiple group comparison procedures. Results showed that MMI significantly reduced self-reported antisocial behavior of the adolescents as compared to WLC and POGI, respectively. A multimodal intervention approach appears to be more effective in treating antisocial behavior in adolescents than a psychodynamic oriented group intervention.     

The influence of the fear facial expression on prosocial responding

Perceiving distress cues appears to be associated with prosocial responding. This being the case, it was hypothesised that the fear facial expression would elicit prosocial responding in perceivers. In Study 1, participants indicated that fear and sadness expressions would be associated with greater sympathy and willingness to help the expresser than would neutral expressions. In Study 2, participants were primed with fear or neutral expressions before reading vignettes featuring protagonists in mild distress. Fear-primed participants reported more sympathy and desire to help the protagonists than neutral-primed participants. Moreover, participants who recognised fear most accurately, as measured by a standard facial expression recognition task, showed the greatest increases in prosocial responding following fear expression primes. This corroborates the notion, supported by research as disparate as behavioural research on bystander intervention and clinical research on psychopaths, that exposure to and correct interpretation of certain distress cues may predict an individual's likelihood of behaving prosocially.     

Identifying Unmet Mental Health Needs in Children of Formerly Homeless Mothers Living in a Supportive Housing Community Sector of Care

This study reports psychosocial characteristics of a sample of 111 children (K to 2nd grade) and their mothers who were living in urban supportive housings. The aim of this study was to document the various types and degree of risk endemic to this population. First, we describe the psychosocial characteristics of this homeless sample. Second, we compared this homeless sample with a grade-matched, high-risk, school-based sample of children (n = 146) who were identified as showing early symptoms of disruptive behaviors. Third, we compared the parents in both samples on mental health, parenting practices, and service utilization. Results showed that children living in supportive housing were in the at-risk range and had comparable levels of externalizing problems, internalizing problems, school problems and emotional strengths with the school-based risk sample receiving prevention services at a family support community agency. Mothers in supportive housing reported significantly higher psychological distress, less optimal parenting practices and greater service utilization. These findings are among the first to provide empircal support for the need to deliver prevention interventions in community sectors of care.     

Adaptive and maladaptive personality traits as predictors of violent and nonviolent offending behavior in men and women

The aim of this study was to assess both violent and nonviolent offending behavior in a single, mixed‐sex population. The rationale for this is that the two types of offending are usually researched separately, despite evidence that they overlap. A comprehensive measure of general violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and nonviolent offending behavior was administered to 116 men and 181 women, together with measures of personality and personality disorder (PD) traits, to investigate whether predictors of violent and nonviolent offending were similar or different for men and women. Men were found to perpetrate higher levels of general violence and nonviolent offenses than women, but women perpetrated significantly more IPV than men. Cluster B PD traits predicted all three offense types for women and also men's general violence and nonviolent offending. Women's general violence and men's non‐violence also had one unique risk factor each, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness, respectively. The main difference was for IPV, where men's IPV was predicted by cluster A PD traits, indicating that men's and women's risk factors for IPV may be different, although their risk factors for the other offense types were fairly consistent. Aggr. Behav. 36:177–186, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

THE MIDDLE AGES: CHANGE IN WOMEN'S PERSONALITIES AND SOCIAL ROLES

It has been argued that the predominant focus of midlife personality development is generativity; other research has found that social roles influence both its onset and its expression. In this article, we examine women's midlife personality development and its relationship to career and family commitments. Results for a sample of 90 women indicated that commitment to particular social projects in early midlife was associated with different patterns of identity, intimacy, and generativity levels at age 62. In addition, women who added social projects to existing projects during adulthood expressed similar levels of identity, intimacy, and generativity at age 62 as women whose social project commitments had stayed the same. For smaller subsamples of women in the study, longitudinal analyses assessed changes in personality development within middle age as well as the relationship between personality and the maintenance or addition of social projects. These results highlight important variation among women who followed different adult life paths.