Newborn Screening: Education,Consent, and the Residual Blood Spot. The Position of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

Newborn screening (NBS) is a minimally invasive lifesaving test. There is currently no federal mandate for NBS, thus states determine their own screening panel based on the recommendations of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborn and Children (SACHDNC), which was recently re-chartered as the Discretionary Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (DACHDNC). After NBS is completed, a couple of residual blood spots remain. While some states allow these spots to be used for public health and scientific research purposes, parents are not always informed about these additional uses. This paper addresses the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ (NSGC’s) position about NBS and blood spot storage/use and the rationale for these positions. The National Society of Genetic Counselors strongly supports newborn screening for the uniform screening panel of conditions recommended by the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. NSGC also supports storage and use of blood spot samples by newborn screening laboratories and transparent policies that govern these activities.     

Preliminary Validity of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory With Filipino Immigrant Parents

Filipinos are an understudied minority affected by significant behavioral health disparities. We evaluate evidence for the reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) in 6- to 12-year-old Filipino children (N = 23). ECBI scores demonstrated high internal consistency, supporting a single-factor model (preintervention α = .91; postintervention α = .95). Results document convergent validity with the Child Behavior Checklist Externalizing scale at pretest (r = .54, p < .01) and posttest (r = .71, p < .001). We conclude that the ECBI is a promising tool to measure behavior problems in Filipino children.     

Relationship Context,Body-Esteem,Religiosity, and Sexual Experience: Associations with Well-Being and Relationship Status

Abstract

In this study we explored why there are sometimes conflicting findings regarding the influence of past sexual experience on relationships. Consequently, we studied the effects of body-esteem and religiosity on sexual experience in two relational contexts (casual or committed relationships) and how all of these variables were associated with life satisfaction, and the likelihood that a person would be married by their early thirties. With a national sample of 4966 participants, our results indicated that sexual experiences in casual relationships had negative associations with life satisfaction and relationship status, whereas sexual experiences in committed relationships had positive associations.     

A Protected Minority? Jews and Criminal Justice: Bologna, 1370–1500

Though Jews arrived late in Bologna, they soon came to form a considerable community, numbering several hundred by the end of the fourteenth century. The existing historiography of this community is strongly characterized by ideas of inclusion and normalization of Jewish relations with Christian society. In contrast, the historiography of Jews in Renaissance Italy is heavily marked by references to their prosecution for alleged crimes. In exploring this contrast, this article examines fifty Bolognese trials involving Jews between 1370 and 1500, covering homicide, violence, theft, and sexual offenses. In order to reveal the particular character of criminal prosecutions of Jews, they are here placed in a comparative analysis with those of a similar group in the city: students.     

Mechanisms of Quality of Life and Social Support in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Cognitive and social factors are essential considerations in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient management, but existing research is limited. This study aims to expand the IBD literature by examining the relationship between social supports and QoL, while examining mechanisms in these relationships. Consenting patients attending an IBD outpatient clinic were provided a survey package (N = 164). Regressions evaluated predictors of IBD-QoL, and catastrophizing and optimism were examined as mediators between social support and IBD-QoL. Diminished IBD-QoL was predicted by younger age, greater negative spousal responses, and less perceived spousal support. Mediation models showed helplessness catastrophizing to be the lone mediator, acting as a mechanism between both negative spousal responses and perceived spousal support with IBD-QoL. Social interaction variables are associated with IBD-QoL, but patients’ experience of helplessness acts to reduce their ability to benefit from social support. Patient care should consider supportive social and cognitive factors to improve IBD-QoL.     

Economic Integration of Pre-WWI Immigrants from the British Isles in the Canadian Labour Market

This article provides new evidence on the economic assimilation of immigrants from the British Isles in Canada during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using data from the 1901 and 1911 censuses and a pseudo-cohort methodology, we estimate both entry and assimilation effects. We find a non-negligible decline in entry earnings among successive cohorts of British and Irish immigrants, previously overlooked in the literature. Our estimates also reveal that the economic performance for Irish and older British arrival cohorts was better than previously reported. Overall, slow economic assimilation and sparse occupational mobility of immigrants have been a long-standing issue in the Canadian labour market.     

Essentialist beliefs affect children's outgroup empathy,attitudes and prosocial behaviours in a setting of intergroup conflict

Empathy for salient outgroups can promote positive intergroup attitudes and prosocial behaviours. Less is known about which factors may promote empathy, particularly among children, in contexts of intergroup conflict. Empathy may depend on underlying cognitions, such as social essentialist beliefs, that is, believing that certain social categories have an underlying essence that causes members to share observable and non-observable properties. This study explored the influence of essentialist beliefs about ethno-religious categories on outgroup-directed empathy, attitudes and prosocial behaviours of children living in Northern Ireland (N = 88; M = 7.09, SD = 1.47 years old). Bootstrapped chain mediation found that lower essentialist beliefs predicted greater outgroup-directed empathy, which was positively related to outgroup attitudes, which in turn, predicted more outgroup prosocial behaviours. The findings highlight the importance of essentialist beliefs as an underlying factor promoting empathy, with links to prosocial behaviours in settings of intergroup conflict. The intervention implications are discussed.     

A Systematic Review of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL)

In this systematic review, the authors analyzed 336 published articles and dissertations that used the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) to determine the reliability and validity of scores on 3 different versions: PCL–Specific, PCL–Military, and PCL–Civilian. Results confirmed Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, and Keane's ( 1993 ) claim that the PCL has adequate psychometric properties and appears to support the construction of a new version, the PCL‐5, as a population‐nonspecific instrument.