The stigma of widowhood in war and disaster affected communities of Sri Lanka: Contextual paths between trauma exposure and mental health distress

To add to the dialogue regarding the long-term recovery and wellbeing of war and tsunami-affected women in Sri Lanka, we utilised the Conservation of Resources Theory (COR, Hobfoll, 2009) to inform an investigation of direct and indirect effects. The study was specifically designed to assess how traumatic exposure may represent a form of loss which may associate with related losses in the form of external and internal stigma which may then associate with poor mental health outcomes. The data for this study were collected in 2016 from a sample of 379 widowed women in Eastern Sri Lanka; participant spouses died in the civil war, in the tsunami, or from health or other problems. Our analyses yielded a model suggesting associations between remembered trauma event exposure from war and disaster, external stigma, internalised stigma and mental health symptom distress. Results further yielded direct and indirect effects suggesting that trauma may represent a form of loss, and potentially lead to distress through the weight and challenges of stigma.     

The detection and generation of sequences as a key to cerebellar function: experiments and theory

Starting from macroscopic and microscopic facts of cerebellar histology, we propose a new functional interpretation that may elucidate the role of the cerebellum in movement control. The idea is that the cerebellum is a large collection of individual lines (Eccles's "beams": Eccles et al. 1967a) that respond specifically to certain sequences of events in the input and in turn produce sequences of signals in the output. We believe that the sequence-in/sequence-out mode of operation is as typical for the cerebellar cortex as the transformation of sets into sets of active neurons is typical for the cerebral cortex, and that both the histological differences between the two and their reciprocal functional interactions become understandable in the light of this dichotomy. The response of Purkinje cells to sequences of stimuli in the mossy fiber system was shown experimentally by Heck on surviving slices of rat and guinea pig cerebellum. Sequential activation of a row of eleven stimulating electrodes in the granular layer, imitating a "movement" of the stimuli along the folium, produces a powerful volley in the parallel fibers that strongly excites Purkinje cells, as evidenced by intracellular recording. The volley, or "tidal wave," has maximal amplitude when the stimulus moves toward the recording site at the speed of conduction in parallel fibers, and much smaller amplitudes for lower or higher "velocities." The succession of stimuli has no effect when they "move" in the opposite direction. Synchronous activation of the stimulus electrodes also had hardly any effect. We believe that the sequences of mossy fiber activation that normally produce this effect in the intact cerebellum are a combination of motor planning relayed to the cerebellum by the cerebral cortex, and information about ongoing movement, reaching the cerebellum from the spinal cord. The output elicited by the specific sequence to which a "beam" is tuned may well be a succession of well timed inhibitory volleys "sculpting" the motor sequences so as to adapt them to the complicated requirements of the physics of a multijointed system.     

Coping with homesickness: The construction of the adult homesickness coping questionnaire

This study examined coping with homesickness in a sample of homesick adult women. For this purpose, the Adult Homesickness Coping Questionnaire (AHCQ) was constructed. Analysis of the structure of the AHCQ revealed four factors: Social Support, Positive Thinking/Distraction, Turning to Religion, and Mental Escape. The psychometric properties of the AHCQ appeared adequate. Results indicated that ways of coping with homesickness are related to diverse aspects of the homesickness experience, like length of stay in the homesickness situation, causal attributions, and intensity levels of homesickness feelings. It is emphasized that future prospective studies should focus specifically on the (in)effectiveness of coping strategies in order to design adequate interventions for homesick individuals.     

GROWING UP AND GROWING OLDER: FEMINISM AS A CONTEXT FOR WOMEN'S LIVES

Social science research shows that contemporary women endorse feminist goals at rates similar to women in the 1970s. However, generations may differ in some aspects of their relationship to feminism. This study of 333 university alumnae examined expressions of feminism across three generations. We provide the first empirical evidence to support Stewart and Healy's (1989) prediction about the impact of social events experienced in childhood; only the youngest cohort recalled holding feminist beliefs as children. Additionally, each cohort identified feminist influences from the period coinciding with their own identity-forming adolescence as most important, although feminism was related to other beliefs in a similar way for each cohort. The Women's Movement appears to be internalized differently depending on developmental life stage.     

Yoga,Mindfulness, and Meditation Interventions for Youth with ADHD: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic developmental disorder affecting 3–7% of children. In light of the growing utilization of yoga, mindfulness, and meditation in ADHD populations and potential benefits it has on ADHD symptoms, executive function deficits, and social functioning, we sought to evaluate these interventions for youth with ADHD. The primary aim of this review paper is to identify the efficacy of these programs for the treatment of youth with ADHD through a systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic literature search was conducted in the following electronic databases: PsychINFO, ERIC, PubMed, and MEDLINE. Studies were included in the meta-analytic review if participants were between 5–17 years old, had a diagnosis of ADHD or met symptom threshold on psychometrically-validated measure of ADHD symptoms, was a treatment outcome study, and was published in a peer-reviewed English-language journal. The effect sizes of eleven studies demonstrate that yoga, mindfulness-based interventions, and/or meditation had a statistically significant effect on the outcomes of ADHD symptoms, hyperactivity, and inattention (parent and teacher report), as well as parent-child relationship, executive functioning, on-task behavior, parent stress, and parent trait-mindfulness (p?<?0.05). The effect sizes range from small to large effects across these outcomes. Considerable risk for bias was found across studies. Given significant methodological limitations of the literature, positive effect sizes found in studies should be interpreted with caution; these interventions should not be considered first-line interventions for ADHD. However, preliminary findings suggest yoga, mindfulness, and meditation may be beneficial for youth with ADHD, but extensive research is required to validate the efficacy of these interventions.     

American Indian methamphetamine and other drug use in the Southwestern United States

To investigate the extent of methamphetamine and other drug use among American Indians (AIs) in the Four Corners region, we developed collaborations with Southwestern tribal entities and treatment programs in and around New Mexico. We held nine focus groups, mostly with Southwestern AI participants (N = 81) from three diverse New Mexico communities to understand community members, treatment providers, and clients/relatives views on methamphetamine. We conducted a telephone survey of staff (N = 100) from agencies across New Mexico to assess perceptions of methamphetamine use among people working with AI populations. We collected and analyzed self-reported drug use data from 300 AI clients/relatives who completed the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in the context of treatment at three diverse addiction treatment programs. Each focus group offered a unique perspective about the effect of drugs and alcohol on each respective community. Though data from the phone surveys and ASIs suggested concerning rates of methamphetamine use, with women more adversely affected by substance use in general, alcohol was identified as the biggest substance use problem for AI populations in the Southwest. There appears to be agreement that methamphetamine use is a significant problem in these communities, but that alcohol is much more prevalent and problematic. There was less agreement about what should be done to prevent and treat methamphetamine use. Future research should attend to regional and tribal differences due to variability in drug use patterns, and should focus on identifying and improving dissemination of effective substance use interventions.     

Event-related potentials indicate that reality monitoring differs from external source monitoring

This experiment investigated differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) observed in 2 types of source monitoring decisions. Participants discriminated between self-generated, heard, and new words (reality monitoring) in one condition; in another they discriminated between words heard in a male or female voice and new items (external source monitoring). The data support the source monitoring framework, which argues that reality monitoring discriminations differ from external source monitoring discriminations. Analysis revealed better overall source accuracy during reality monitoring than during external source monitoring. In the external source monitoring task, an early old-new ERP difference was observed at parietal electrodes followed by frontal old-new effect that persisted longer, replicating previous ERP results. However, early ERP amplitude differences between sources were observed at parietal electrode sites during reality monitoring, suggesting that self-generated items activate more differentiated information during remembering. Furthermore, there were no frontal old-new ERP differences during reality monitoring, suggesting that different decision processes are used in these types of source monitoring decisions.