Spirituality in African-American Breast Cancer Patients: Implications for Clinical and Psychosocial Care

Journal of Religion and Health - Spirituality has been shown to be important to many individuals dealing with a cancer diagnosis. While African-American breast cancer survivors have been reported...     

Faint-hearted Anti-realism and Knowability

It is often claimed that anti-realists are compelled to reject the inference of the knowability paradox, that there are no unknown truths. I call those anti-realists who feel so compelled ‘faint-hearted’, and argue in turn that anti-realists should affirm this inference, if it is to be consistent. A major part of my strategy in defending anti-realism is to formulate an anti-realist definition of truth according to which a statement is true only if it is verified by someone, at some time. I also liberalize what is meant by a verification to allow for indirect forms of verification. From this vantage point, I examine a key objection to anti-realism, that it is committed to the necessary existence of minds, and reject a response to this problem set forth by Michael Hand. In turn I provide a more successful anti-realist response to the necessary minds problem that incorporates what I call an ‘agential’ view of verification. I conclude by considering what intellectual cost there is to being an anti-realist in the sense I am advocating.     

Ante-natal HIV testing: An observational study of HIV test discussion in maternity care

There has been a vociferous call for ante-natal HIV testing but low uptake persists in the UK despite DOH guidelines. The reasons for this are complex, with many studies examining intention, offer and uptake of HIV test but few observing the process to understand the nature of HIV discussion with pregnant women. A field observational study was undertaken where researchers attended 154 ante-natal consultations. These were selected in rotation during ante-natal visits by women at four London hospital based ante-natal clinics. A standardized checklist was utilized to monitor information on HIV. A mean of 1.73 minutes was spent discussing HIV infection and testing during ante-natal consultations which lasted for a mean of 33.1 minutes. Risk factors for HIV were mentioned infrequently. When mentioned they concentrated on sexual behaviour which was raised in 11.7% of the consultations. Potential interventions to reduce vertical transmission were discussed with no more than one in five women and possible adverse implications of HIV testing with fewer than one in ten, the only exception being the implications of a positive diagnosis for the baby. Discussion of interventions was associated with HIV test uptake, but risk discussion was not. The short time spent on discussing HIV testing, combined with paucity of mention of information relevant to pregnancy are issues for concern and probably help to explain the level of uptake in the UK.     

Temporal Parts and Moral Personhood

Philosophical Studies -     

The Metacognitive Model of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Worry is a common phenomenon in children and adolescents, with some experiencing excessive worries that cause significant distress and interference. The metacognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder (Wells 1995, 2009) was developed to explain cognitive processes associated with pathological worry in adults, particularly the role of positive and negative beliefs about worry. This review evaluates the application of the model in understanding child and adolescent worry. Other key issues reviewed include the link between cognitive and metacognitive development and worry, and the measurement of worry and metacognitive worry in young people. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.