Experiences of HIV-related discrimination and consequences for internalised stigma,depression and alcohol use

Objective: HIV stigma undermines health and well-being of people living with HIV (PLWH). Conceptual work on stigma mechanisms suggests that experiences of stigma or discrimination increase internalised stigma. However, not all PLWH may internalise the HIV discrimination they experience. We aimed to investigate the role of stress associated with events of HIV-related discrimination on internalised HIV stigma, as well as the downstream effects on depressive symptoms and alcohol use severity.

Design: 199 participants were recruited from an HIV clinic in the southeastern United States.

Main study measures: HIV-related discrimination was assessed using items adapted from measures of enacted HIV stigma and discrimination. Participants rated perceived stress associated with each discrimination item. Internalised HIV stigma was assessed using the internalised stigma subscale of the HIV Stigma Mechanisms Scale. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Index. Alcohol use severity was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.

Results: In serial mediation models, HIV-related discrimination was indirectly associated with both depressive symptoms and alcohol use severity through its associations with stress and internalised HIV stigma.

Conclusions: Understanding the mechanisms through which PLWH internalise HIV stigma and lead to poor health outcomes can yield clinical foci for intervention.     

Calling Solomon’s Bluff: Ethics,Aspect-Perception and the Unity of the Tractatus

In this paper, I consider how we ought to read the aspect-perception passages in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (TLP) in the light of its ethics. I engage with a recent proposal, of Genia Schönbaumsfeld's, that we should replace the TLP account of aspect-perception with that which Wittgenstein puts forward in the Philosophical Investigations (PI). I show that, far from helping us to grasp the ethical vision contained in the TLP, this proposal obscures it. I go on to draw some conclusions from this as to how to read the TLP in its relation to Wittgenstein's other work.     

Integration of Research and Practice in Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Findings From Focus Groups of Clinicians,Researchers, Educators,Administrators, and Policy Makers

Clinicians, researchers, educators, administrators, and policy makers, who represented stakeholders in the substance abuse treatment field, participated in 5 focus groups. Four general areas regarding integration of research and practice were investigated: definition of research, training/education, current integration, and future integration.     

This and THAP -- constraints on the pronunciation of new, written words

The pronunciation of nonwords that start with TH is investigated in lists and sentences. The initial phoneme is usually unvoiced (as in THOUGHT) when the nonword is embedded in lists of words and nonwords. In contrast, the initial phoneme is usually voiced (as in THIS) when such nonwords are read aloud in a function word position in a sentence. These findings are inconsistent with the current dual process theory of the routes from print to sound which implies that the phonology of a new word or nonword can be derived only from a form of letter-sound correspondence which is independent of lexical/syntactic pressures.