Delivery of Psychological Skills Training to Youngsters

The aim of the present study was to explore sport psychologists’ experiences of working with children and adolescents to understand how they have adapted both content and delivery of psychological skills training when consulting with young athletes. Interviews with 12 experienced sport psychology consultants from the United Kingdom were inductively content analyzed. Four main higher order themes relating to content and delivery emerged: consultancy skills, relating to youngsters, delivery medium, and maintaining engagement. The findings imply that psychologists experience challenges unique to youth populations but also have developed content and delivery strategies to overcome these.     

Experiences of Women Who Underwent Predictive BRCA 1/2 Mutation Testing Before the Age of 30

This qualitative interview study focuses on the experiences of a sample of British female BRCA 1/2 carriers who had predictive testing before the age of 30, which is the minimum age for breast screening in the UK. Following appropriate informed consent procedures participants were recruited through the Cancer Genetics Service for Wales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with seven participants, transcribed in full and analyzed using thematic analysis. The motives for testing and perceived advantages described by participants were similar to those identified in previous studies with older participants, such as increased awareness and knowledge and feeling more in control. However some of the perceived disadvantages were specific to younger women, including feeling pressured to make important life decisions earlier than they would have liked, such as about family planning and risk reducing surgery. Participants also reported feeling abandoned or forgotten because of lack of ongoing clinical contact, or feeling “stuck waiting” for screening to begin. However, none felt that these disadvantages were a reason to regret having testing. Findings in this small study suggest that having BRCA 1/2 predictive testing can have positive outcomes for young women even though they may be unable to access interventions such as breast screening. However it may be helpful to encourage young women during pre-test counseling to explore the decisions and choices they may face. These young women could benefit from ongoing support and follow up and increased interaction with healthcare professionals.     

Polemics on Ethical Aspects in the Compost Business

This paper focuses on compost use in overpasses and underpasses for wild animals over roads and other similar linear structures. In this context, good quality of compost may result in faster and more resistant vegetation cover during the year. Inter alia, this can be interpreted also as reduction of damage and saving lives. There are millions of tones of plant residue produced every day worldwide. These represent prospective business for manufacturers of compost additives called “accelerators”. The opinions of the sale representatives’ with regards to other alternatives of biowaste utilization and their own products were reviewed. The robust analyzes of several “accelerated” composts revealed that the quality was generally low. Only two accelerated composts were somewhat similar in quality to the blank sample that was produced according to the traditional procedure. Overlaps between the interests of decision makers on future soil fertility were weighed against the preferences on short-term profit. Possible causes that allowed the boom of these underperforming products and the possible consequences are also discussed. Conclusions regarding the ethical concerns on how to run businesses with products whose profitability depends on weaknesses in the legal system and customer unawareness are to follow.     

Engagement in Group Psychotherapy Among Marginalized Individuals With Hepatitis C

This article examines an innovative psychoeducational group model at a community-based hepatitis C treatment program in Toronto, Canada. Group support is increasingly used as part of community-based, interdisciplinary approaches to addressing the complex psychosocial needs and barriers to care of individuals living with and/or undergoing treatment for hepatitis C. This article articulates the theoretical framework and details of one such group model. It also examines group engagement and outcomes using data collected over three group cycles. Psychotherapeutic engagement was higher than might be anticipated for a highly marginalized population. Specifically, group cohesion measures were equivalent or higher compared to norms for other support/psychotherapy groups. This study suggests that individuals with complex psychosocial issues have the ability to engage meaningfully in group therapy.     

Parental Gender Expectations by Socioeconomic Status and Nativity: Implications for Contraceptive Use

Parental gender expectations, which may be egalitarian or not, could vary by nativity and socioeconomic status. Parental gender expectations provide a model for children’s gender role attitudes and could also have effects on reproductive health over the life course, including women’s contraceptive choices. Yet, parental gender expectations are not often studied quantitatively. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine how parental gender expectations in the United States vary by immigrant generation and socioeconomic status, whether parental gender expectations in adolescence are associated with young women’s contraceptive use, and if nativity moderates that relationship. Results show that parental gender expectations vary significantly by immigrant generation and parental socioeconomic status. Both first and second generation women are significantly less likely to have lived in households with equal gender expectations compared to the third generation. Higher socioeconomic status is associated with equal gender expectations. Among participants from households with equal gender expectations, the second generation is more likely than the third generation is to use a male-controlled contraceptive method versus no method. Using a nationally representative sample, our study demonstrates that parental gender expectations vary by nativity and by the socioeconomic context of the family in which they are embedded as well as have a unique effect on the contraceptive behavior of second generation women.     

Evaluation of two physical guidance procedures in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorder

Children with pediatric feeding disorder may refuse to consume an adequate variety and/or volume of food to maintain expected growth. They can consume food but may actively or passively refuse, resulting in escape or avoidance of eating. Behavioral interventions like positive reinforcement with escape extinction can increase consumption. However, sometimes these interventions are insufficient, especially in treating passive refusal. In these cases, physical guidance may be used to prompt an open mouth to deposit food. Research indicates open-mouth prompts are effective and rated as acceptable. This study replicated an existing physical guidance procedure, the finger prompt, and compared its efficacy and acceptability with that of a spoon prompt. This study extended research by defining and measuring passive refusal as a dependent variable and assessing social validity among different stakeholders and times. Both prompts were effective in treating food refusal, and caregivers rated the finger prompt as more preferred.     

Proposing Abolition Theory for Carceral Medical Education

Medical schools, like all institutions, are conservative since they seek to maintain and expand on their accomplishments. Stakes are high in carceral medicine given the risks of replicating the inhumane social conditions that exist within prisons and allow prisons to exist. Given the increasing number of partnerships between state and municipal carceral systems with academic medical centers, medical schools must consider which guiding theory they will use to teach carceral medicine. The interdisciplinary theory of prison abolition is best fit for the task of training medical students to think about the long term goals of societal change and public health.