A randomized controlled trial of a coping group intervention for adults with HIV who are AIDS bereaved: longitudinal effects on grief.

The authors sought to study the longitudinal effects of a cognitive-behavioral group intervention for coping with AIDS bereavement among a diverse sample of adults who were HIV positive. Participants (N = 267) were randomly assigned to receive the 12-week intervention or individual therapy upon request. Measures were administered at baseline, postintervention, and 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-ups. Longitudinal data were analyzed with linear mixed models to examine change in grief by condition across the study period and the effect of the intervention on grief through its interaction with psychiatric distress. The authors used the Grief Reaction Index to assess grief and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised to assess global psychiatric distress. Participants in both conditions reported decreases in grief severity. However, among those with higher levels of psychiatric distress, participants in the group intervention had significantly lower grief severity scores compared with participants in the individual therapy condition. The long-term effectiveness of this AIDS-bereavement intervention for psychiatrically distressed people with HIV/AIDS supports the need for tailored interventions among those at risk for complicated grief responses.     

Looking for Trouble: Preventive Genomic Sequencing in the General Population and the Role of Patient Choice

Advances in genomics have led to calls for developing population-based preventive genomic sequencing (PGS) programs with the goal of identifying genetic health risks in adults without known risk factors. One critical issue for minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits of PGS is determining the kind and degree of control individuals should have over the generation, use, and handling of their genomic information. In this article we examine whether PGS programs should offer individuals the opportunity to selectively opt out of the sequencing or analysis of specific genomic conditions (the menu approach) or whether PGS should be implemented using an all-or-nothing panel approach. We conclude that any responsible scale-up of PGS will require a menu approach that may seem impractical to some, but that draws its justification from a rich mix of normative, legal, and practical considerations.     

‘Hijab envy’: the visible angst of immigrant Christians in a pluralist Canada

This article explores the predilection of Christians of immigrant background to perceive themselves as a disadvantaged group in the new reality of Canada’s growing religious diversity. The present inquiry challenges loss as the definitive emotional register for Christian engagement with Canada’s new religious minorities, demonstrating that religious minorities have elicited begrudging admiration and envy from their Christian counterparts. This inquiry insists that contemporary Canada, not ‘Christian Canada’, is the most important frame for understanding the perceptions and predilections of the Christians in this study. It argues that pluralist ideals, the policy instruments, and social practices that carry these ideals and the cultural forums that display and debate these ideals shape not only the ‘attitudes’ of young Christians, but also the regimes of visibility in which and from which they operate. While scholars impute an increasing visibility to religion, this article demonstrates that the array of affects between viewer and viewed are highly variable and context specific.     

An evidence-based group coping intervention for women living with HIV and history of childhood sexual abuse

Women living with HIV/AIDS and a history of childhood sexual abuse often exhibit sexual trauma symptoms and elevated rates of HIV-risk behaviors. In this paper, we describe a coping skills group intervention that reduced traumatic stress and sexual-risk behavior in a recent randomized clinical trial. We focused on clinical issues that emerged among female participants receiving the intervention. Clinical observations showed that recognizing connections between trauma, psychological distress, and high risk behaviors was a new and powerful experience for many participants. Participants successfully applied psychoeducational material, expressing an increased sense of power and control over their relationships and behaviors as they developed more adaptive cognitive and behavioral skills. Women expressed high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. Recommendations for clinical practice are provided.     

A Comparison of the Interactive Systems Framework (ISF) for Dissemination and Implementation and the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention’s Research-to-Practice Model for Behavioral Interventions

Translating evidence-based HIV/STD prevention interventions and research findings into applicable HIV prevention practice has become an important challenge for the fields of community psychology and public health due to evidence-based interventions and evidence-based practice being given higher priority and endorsement by federal, state, and local health department funders. The Interactive Systems Framework (ISF) for Dissemination and Implementation and the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) Research-to-Practice model both address this challenge. The DHAP model and the ISF are each presented with a brief history and an introduction of their features from synthesis of research findings through translation into intervention materials to implementation by prevention providers. This paper describes why the ISF and the DHAP model were developed and the similarities and differences between them. Specific examples of the use of the models to translate research to practice and the subsequent implications for support of each model are provided. The paper concludes that the ISF and the DHAP model are truly complementary with some unique differences, while both contribute substantially to addressing the gap between identifying effective programs and ensuring their widespread adoption in the field.     

Adding odor: Less distress and enhanced attention for 6-month-olds

The effect of odor on cognitive and emotional processes has been studied in adults and children, but less so in infants. In this study twenty-seven six-month-olds were presented with a video while in either an odor (pine or baby-powder) or a no odor control condition. The video was a 92-s audiovisual presentation of a woman expressing happiness and sadness, with the order of emotion counterbalanced. Infant attention (looking time) and emotional expression (smiling, crying, mouthing) were coded. Infants looked longer in the presence of odor and expressed less crying and mouthing but more smiling behavior. Presence of odor markedly reduced infant emotional distress and increased attention, suggesting that the olfactory sensory system provides cues to infants that support mood regulation and maintain attention. These results have implications for optimizing infant environments for emotional health and cognitive development.     

We're All Victims Here: Toward a Psychology of Revenge

When people are hurt or angered by another person they may try to restore equity to the relationship. Yet each party's perception of what is equitable may vary. Study 1 compared incidents of revenge from the revenge-seeker perspective (avengers) to those from the revenge-recipients' perspective. Study 2 compared avenger incidents to those from victims of interpersonal transgressions who did not seek revenge. Avengers portrayed the revenge as equitable, whereas recipients portrayed the revenge as excessive. Both avengers and recipients presented themselves as victims. In light of these findings, it is understandable why vendettas take place. Each seeks a fair and equitable solution, although what one party believes to be fair, the other party sees as excessive. The result, then, may be an escalating cycle of revenge, stemming from ongoing and spiraling attempts to restore equity.     

Development of the Idiographic functional status assessment: A measure of the personal goals and goal attainment activities of people with AIDS

Abstract

This study presents the development of the Idiographic Functional Status Assessment (IFSA), an interview to assess functional status according to each person's unique point of view. This idiographic method asks people to state their personal goals in terms of things they want to accomplish, problems they want to solve, situations they hope to avoid, roles and relationships they want to maintain, and pursuits they want to relinquish. After describing their goals, respondents rate goal attainment activities they have pursued in the past month in terms of level of difficulty, dependence and other performance dimensions. In a study of 224 people with AIDS, the idiographic measure provided functional status scales that were relatively stable over time, and that correlated well with other subjective well-being measures and heath status criteria. Goal content measures derived from the interview can be used to distinguish sub samples that differ in terms of the determinants of quality of life.