What about the family in youth gender diversity? A literature review

Abstract

Background: Previous research has suggested that gender diversity affects everyone in the family, with positive mental health and global outcomes for gender diverse youth reliant on receiving adequate family support and validation. Although the individual mental health, treatment and outcomes for gender diverse youth have received recent research attention, much less is known about a family perspective. Hence, a review of the literature exploring youth gender diversity from a family perspective is warranted.

Aims: To systematically identify, appraise and summarize all published literature primarily exploring gender diversity in young people under the age of 18?years, as well as selected literature pertaining to a family understanding.

Methods: Six electronic databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, Web of Science) were searched for relevant literature pertaining to youth under the age of 18?years.

Results: Research evidence was consistently found to support the beneficial effects of a supportive family system for youth experiencing gender diversity, and a systemic understanding and approach for professionals. Conversely, lack of family support was found to lead to poorer mental health and adverse life outcomes. Few articles explored the experience of siblings under the age of 18?years.

Discussion: This literature review is the first to critically evaluate and summarize all published studies which adopted a family understanding of youth gender diversity. The review highlighted a lack of current research and the need for further targeted research, which utilizes a systemic clinical approach to guide support for gender diverse youth and family members.     

Genetic Counseling Practice Analysis

The American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) performed a genetic counseling practice analysis (PA) to determine the content of the certification examination. The ABGC-appointed PA Advisory Committee worked with psychometricians to develop a survey which was distributed to 2,038 genetic counselors in the United States and Canada. The survey was also accessible on the ABGC website. Multiple criteria were used to establish the significance of the tasks included in the survey. A total of 677 responses were used in the analysis, representing a 37.1% corrected response rate. Five major content domains with 143 tasks were identified in the PA. New certification test specifications were developed on the basis of PA results and will be used in developing future examination forms. In keeping with credentialing standards, ABGC plans to conduct a PA on a regular basis so that the content of the examination reflects current practice.     

Tuning in to another person's action capabilities: perceiving maximal jumping-reach height from walking kinematics

Three experiments investigated the ability to perceive the maximum height to which another actor could jump to reach an object. Experiment 1 determined the accuracy of estimates for another actor's maximal reach-with-jump height and compared these estimates to estimates of the actor's standing maximal reaching height and to estimates of the perceiver's own maximal reaching and reach-with-jump height. Perception of another actor's maximum reach-with-jump height was less accurate than the other estimates, but still accurate to within 8% error. The actor's reach-with-jump height was modified in Experiment 2 by attaching weights around the actor's ankles. Perceivers, who were explicitly aware of the manipulation, adjusted their maximum reach-with-jump estimates for the actor accordingly. In Experiment 3, perceivers were not explicitly aware of the weight manipulation, but provided significantly lower maximum reach-with-jump estimates after watching the actor walk while wearing the weights compared to estimates obtained after watching the actor walk while not wearing the weights. The results suggest that the actor's walking pattern was informative about the actor's capacity to produce a different action, jumping to reach an object.     

Development of a Family-based Program to Reduce Risk and Promote Resilience Among Families Affected by Maternal Depression: Theoretical Basis and Program Description

Depression is a family matter. It not only diminishes the quality-of-life of the depressed person, but also strains the resources of the family unit and increases the children's risk of developing significant problems that start early and persist into adulthood. Although treatment of a parent's depression is critical, many families also need professional intervention to reduce children's risk. This article reviews the evidence on needs of these families and shows that the theoretical and clinical evidence exists to support the design of interventions for families affected by maternal depression. A preventive intervention developed from this foundation is described, the Keeping Families Strong (KFS) program, that is designed to promote resilience and reduce the risk for psychological disorders in children of parents with depression. The pilot study on the KFS program, conducted in adult mental health outpatient settings, is described. Families participate in 10 meetings 90 min each, with a group for parents and for children (10 years and older) conducted concurrently. The program structure and content are described, the challenges of implementing a family preventive intervention in actual clinical settings are discussed, and a case example is provided, as well as preliminary outcome data on ten families. In sum, we provide a strong rationale for the potential of preventive interventions for families affected by maternal depression.     

The Mayman Form-Level Scoring Method: Scorer Reliability and Correlates of Form Level

A method of scoring the form level of Rorschach responses developed by Mayman (1962) was employed in a study of 100 twins and 95 of their parents. A method of training is described that led to generally adequate inter-scorer reliabilities. The relationship of mean form level to age, sex, and intellectual abilities is discussed, as are results relevant to the “heritability” of mean form level. It is concluded that mean form level is of complex determination and should be interpreted cautiously in developmental studies. It is argued that Mayman's highly differentiated approach to form level has unique value for qualitative analyses of Rorschach protocols.     

Chaos in Human Rhythmic Movement

Rhythmic movements typical of locomotory actions are usually modeled as limit cycle dynamics, and their deviations from pure periodicity are attributed to stochastic physiological noise. In the present study, the dynamics of human rhythmic movements were found to contain more than the 2 dynamically active variables expected from limit cycle dynamics; the number depended upon the size of the limb oscillator. Observed positive Lyapunov exponents and fractal attractor dimensions indicated that the gross variability of human rhythmic movements may stem largely from low-dimensional chaotic motion on strange attractors.     

Predictors of College Students' Alcohol Consumption: Implications for Student Education

Understanding why young adults consume alcohol the way they do can lead to more effective educational programming for promotion of students' personal health and safety. The authors examined the predictive role of expectations about alcohol, perceived peer norms of consumption, awareness of rules, and individual self-efficacy in conjunction with demographic variables for male and female college students' weekly alcohol consumption. The sample of 4,960 students analyzed here is 10 to 20 times larger and more nationally representative than the samples used in similar studies. The authors used a general linear model; 41% of the men's variance and 33% of the women's variance in self-reported weekly alcohol consumption were explained by the set of predictors. In descending order of variance accounted for in male and female students' self-reported weekly alcohol consumption, perceived gender-specific norms of consumption, expectations about the effects of alcohol, and the importance of drinking in high school were significant predictors for both men and women. The salience of psychological variables for young adults' consumption of alcohol underscores the importance of recognizing individual predictors of behavior in the broader ecological context in which those behaviors are performed.     

Multimodally specified energy expenditure and action-based distance judgments

Previous research has demonstrated that perceived self-motion can be manipulated by the relation between optic flow rate and walking rate. Other studies have revealed that verbal reports of perceived distance are influenced by the energy that would be expended to traverse the distance in question. In an effort to integrate these findings, we investigated how action-based distance judgments are influenced by multimodally specified energy expenditure (MSEE)—the metabolic cost associated with traversing an optically specified distance—using a virtual-reality treadmill environment. The energy expenditure associated with walking, measured as the volume of oxygen consumed, was manipulated by changing treadmill speed or grade. Optically specified distance was manipulated by changing the virtual optic flow rate. All three manipulations of MSEE (walking rate, grade, and optic flow rate) influenced distance reports in the predicted directions and to equivalent degrees.     

Report from the National Society of Genetic Counselors Service Delivery Model Task Force: A Proposal to Define Models, Components, and Modes of Referral

The Service Delivery Model Task Force (SDMTF) was appointed in 2009 by the leadership of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) with a charge to research and assess the capacity of all existing service delivery models to improve access to genetic counseling services in the context of increasing demand for genetic testing and counseling. In approaching this charge, the SDMTF found that there were varying interpretations of what was meant by "service delivery models" and the group held extensive discussions about current practices to arrive at consensus of proposed definitions for current genetic service delivery models, modes of referral and components of service delivery. The major goal of these proposed definitions is to allow for conversations to begin to address the charge to the committee. We propose that current models of service delivery can be defined by: 1) the methods in which genetic counseling services are delivered (In-person, Telephone, Group and Telegenetics), 2) the way they are accessed by patients (Traditional referral, Tandem, Triage, Rescue and Self-referral) and 3) the variable components that depend upon multiple factors unique to each service setting. This report by the SDMTF provides a starting point whereby standardized terminology can be used in future studies that assess the effectiveness of these described models to overcome barriers to access to genetic counseling services.