Patient and Family Experiences and Opinions on Adding 22q11 Deletion Syndrome to the Newborn Screen

22q11 deletion syndrome (22qDS) has recently been proposed for addition to the newborn screening panel in Wisconsin and it seems likely that it may soon be considered in other states as well. Input from patients with 22qDS and their family was gathered from 21 phone interviews. Cardiac, palate, hypocalcemia, and multiple anomalies were common reasons for involved patients to be diagnosed, though age at diagnosis ranged from birth to adulthood. Many commented on their struggles with 22qDS, including worries about the future and the patient’s independence. In general, respondents favored newborn screening for 22qDS because it would help prevent some medical problems, increase access to services, explain existing problems, and identify mild cases. However, a minority expressed reservations, including concerns that it would disrupt bonding, could be too costly, and would not be useful for mild cases.     

Social preference,social prominence,and group membership in late elementary school: homophilic concentration and peer affiliation configurations

This study investigated the social preference and social prominence of 622 5th graders (290 boys, 332 girls) in relation to peer group membership. The sample was recruited from 11 elementary schools in a southeastern state. The ethnicity of participants was 55% European American, 41% African American, and 4% other. Peer groups were classified on each of three domains (academic, aggression, popular) by the proportion of group members who were high on the characteristic of interest. Participants’ peer affiliations were also classified with cluster analytic techniques that yielded distinct configurations of aggression, popularity, and academic competence. Social preference and social prominence were each related to popular peer group type for both boys and girls and differentially related to aggressive and academic group types. Social prominence, but not social preference, was related to peer group configurations for both girls and boys. Implications for the development of social contextual interventions to support students’ adjustment and academic engagement during late elementary school are discussed.     

Addressing Unintended Consequences of Gender Diversity Interventions on Women’s Sense of Belonging in STEM

Sex Roles - Validated interventions that increase bias literacy (i.e., knowledge of gender bias) and decrease sexism are critical to addressing pervasive gender biases in science, technology,...     

Relationships Between Treatment Attitudes,Psychological Symptoms,Emotional Competence,and Help‐Seeking Intentions

The authors examined whether emotional competence (i.e., awareness, coping strategies) predicted help‐seeking intentions above and beyond previously identified factors (i.e., attitudes and perceived stigma toward professional help, psychological symptom severity) in an undergraduate sample (N = 531). Emotional awareness predicted help‐seeking intentions for personal/emotional problems and suicidal thoughts. Emotional coping strategies predicted help‐seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts and moderated the relationship between symptom severity and help‐seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts. Efforts to increase help‐seeking should address students' emotional competence.     

Perpetration of sibling aggression and sibling relationship quality in emerging adulthood

This study examined how emerging adults' perpetration of aggression toward a sibling closest in age was longitudinally associated with their sibling relationship quality. Emerging adults (N = 143; M_age = 19.62; 70% female) completed surveys online or by mail at two time points, 4 years apart. Of emerging adults, 25% perpetrated aggression against their closest‐in‐age sibling. Perpetration of sibling aggression was predictive 4 years later of less sibling warmth, involvement, and emotional help. None of the interactions with gender and sibling gender was significant. This study's findings demonstrate the importance of examining the consequences of perpetration of aggressive behavior toward a sibling for sibling relationship quality in emerging adulthood.     

Community psychology,digital technology,and loss: Remembrance activities of young adults who have experienced the death of a close friend

We argue for community psychology to include digital communications technology in research on ways that the social environment shapes fundamental human experiences. We present a qualitative study that examined the narrative accounts of 20 young adults who experienced the death of a close friend to describe both traditional and digital forms of remembrance in coping with loss. Findings suggest that young adults' activities both online and offline were intended to acknowledge the loss, exchange social support, create and sustain memories of their deceased friend, and facilitate continued communication with the deceased. Participants described both costs and benefits to their real and virtual remembrance activities. Findings illustrate ways that the study of digital technology adds to our understanding of grief and bereavement and contributes to dominant cultural narratives about coping with death. Implications of findings for research in community psychology are discussed.     

Novice school counselors’ role in closing the achievement gap with low-income adolescents

We explored 10 novice school counselors’ experiences working to close the achievement gap with low-income adolescents through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results suggest that school counselors experienced their role in closing the achievement gap with low-income adolescents as one of (a) systemic discouragement, (b) interactions with students’ home environment, and (c) parallel process advocacy. Implications for school counselors, counselor educators, and future research are included.     

Veteran Participation in Intensive Suicide Research Protocols: No Evidence of Iatrogenic Effects

Suicide research remains fraught with ethical and methodological issues, including researchers’ reservations about conducting intensive suicide research protocols due to potential iatrogenic effects and liability concerns. Such issues significantly impede scientific inquiry related to suicide. To date, no research has explored potential iatrogenic effects of intensive, nontreatment suicide research among Veterans. This study aimed to fill this gap. It was hypothesized that participation in suicide‐specific protocols would not significantly increase risk among Veterans. Veterans completed self‐reports, structured interviews, and rigorous suicide‐specific tasks (Study A, N = 34; Study B, N = 18; Study C, N = 119). Findings indicated there were no significant differences in pre‐ and postassessment suicide risk variables (all ps > .05). Estimated mean change for “urge to harm self” was ?0.24 (95% confidence interval [CI]: ?0.60, 0.13), ?0.28 (CI: ?0.56, 0.01), and ?0.01 (CI: ?0.09, 0.07) and “intent to harm self” was ?0.18 (95% CI: ?0.45, 0.10), 0 (CI: ?0.17, 0.17), and 0.01 (CI: ?0.04, 0.06) for Studies A, B, and C, respectively. Results indicated the respective protocols did not produce iatrogenic effects. The current findings are discussed with attention to safety‐monitoring techniques that may reduce iatrogenic effects and considerations for future researchers.     

Patient-provider care goal concordance: implications for palliative care decisions

Objective: Goal-concordant care is an important feature of high quality medical treatment. Patients’ care goals may focus on curative and/or palliative outcomes. Patients rarely communicate their care goals, and providers’ predictions of patient goals are often inaccurate, corresponding most closely to their own treatment goals. This projection of own goals onto patients introduces the potential for bias, leading to goal-discordant care.

Design and Main Outcomes: We examined goal discordance using data from a U.S. sample of healthcare providers (N?=?492) recruited online in 2017 using GfK Knowledge Panel. Providers reported their perceptions of their patients’ care goals (curative relative to palliative), their own care goals if they were to become ill, and their willingness to deliver palliative care.

Results: For 28% of providers, their own care goals differed from their patients’. Providers were more likely to prioritise palliative care (relative to curative) in their own goals than in their predictions about patients’ goals. Providers were more willing to deliver palliative care when their own goals prioritised more palliative relative to curative care, but their perceptions of patient goals were unassociated with willingness to provide it.

Conclusions: Efforts to improve goal communication and reduce projection biases among providers may facilitate goal-concordant care.