Development of an Interactive Decision Aid for Female BRCA1/BRCA2 Carriers

Shared decision making between patients and providers is becoming increasingly common, particularly when there is no clear preferred course of action. As a result, decision aids are being adopted with growing frequency and have been applied to many medical decision-making issues. One such issue where there is uncertainty is breast cancer risk management among BRCA1/BRCA2 carriers. We present the development of a CD-ROM decision aid to facilitate risk management decision making in this population. Our decision aid was developed with the intention of providing it through a randomized clinical trial. The CD-ROM is a multimedia, interactive intervention which provides information about breast cancer, risks associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, risk management options for hereditary breast cancer, and a breast cancer risk management decision aid. The goal of this CD-ROM, offered as an adjunctive intervention, is to reduce decisional conflict and psychological distress and improve comprehension of risk information, decisional satisfaction, medical adherence, and quality of life for this population of women at increased risk for breast cancer.     

误导信息和源检测影响证言准确性的实验研究

通过操纵信息类型与测试类型两个自变量,探讨误导信息和源检测对证言准确性、自信程度的影响,同时研究了心理控制源、焦虑、自尊与证言准确性、自信程度的相关.研究发现,误导信息是影响证言准确性的重要因素,自信程度与心理控制源、自尊之间存在正相关.     

Implications of accuracy, sensitivity, and variability of body size estimations to disordered eating

The current study was conducted to investigate the relationships between body size estimations and disordered eating symptomatology. The method of constant stimuli was used to derive three measures of self-perceived body size in 93 women: (1) accuracy of body size estimations (body image distortion); (2) sensitivity in discriminating body size within blocks of trials (body image sensitivity); and (3) variability in making body size estimations between blocks of trials (body image variability). Participants also completed measures of disordered eating. Although body image distortion correlated with dietary restraint and eating concern, body image variability accounted for additional variance in these variables, as well as variance in binge eating. The relationships involving body image variability were found to be mediated by body dissatisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal. Together, these results are consistent with the proposition that body image variability is a significant factor in disordered eating.     

Stated reasons for reducing work-commute by car

A survey is reported that requested work-commuters by car to state reasons that would make them reduce car use for the work commute. All participants (n = 1218) were employed by companies located in the center of a medium-size Swedish city (pop. 82,000). Among 76% of the car users (n = 602) who stated any reasons, the most frequent were improved public transport and work from home some days. Shorter travel times, an increased frequency of service and lower fares were the most frequent reasons for increasing public transport use.     

Literature and the revolution.

Studies in East European Thought -     

Judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors affecting children's testimony about sexual abuse

The authors examined Swedish judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors that may complicate or facilitate children's reports of sexual abuse. Participants (N = 562) rated potential complicating and facilitating factors and freely reported which criteria they considered important when assessing the reliability of child witnesses. The groups had similar opinions regarding which factors are complicating and facilitating. Furthermore, the groups tended to regard emotional factors as more complicating than cognitive factors. When freely reporting criteria that are important when assessing reliability, judges and police officers reported criteria pertaining mainly to the child, whereas lay judges reported mainly criteria pertaining mainly to the police interview. Results indicate that participants believe that children have the capacity to remember and report about abuse but are hindered in doing so by emotional factors. Results also suggest that police officers may underestimate their own influence on the reliability of children's reports.     

What Are Degrees of Belief?

Probabilism is committed to two theses:

The pursuit of muscularity among adolescent boys in Fiji and Tonga

The desire for muscularity is tied to Western views of the male gender role, which prescribe that men be strong, physically fit and athletically successful. Although, these ideals have been primarily studied among Western adolescent boys, there is emerging evidence that the same ideals are valued and promoted among males from the Pacific Islands. The aim of the present study was to examine body image concerns associated with muscularity and the reasons for these concerns among Fijian and Tongan adolescent boys. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Indigenous Fijian, 24 Indo-Fijian, and 24 Tongan boys aged between 13 and 20 years. A thematic analysis of boys’ narratives showed that the pursuit of muscularity was a dominant theme for many boys. Boys’ reasons for pursing muscularity included the attainment of strength and fitness, sporting performance, physical work, dominance, and health. These findings are examined in relation to previous research with Western adolescent boys.     

Mentalization in children and mothers in the context of trauma: An initial study of the validity of the Child Reflective Functioning Scale

This study examined the validity of the Child Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS: Ensink, Target, & Oandason, 2013, Child reflective functioning scale scoring manual: for application to the Child Attachment Interview. London, UK: Anna Freud Centre – University College London), a measure designed to assess reflective functioning (RF) or mentalization during middle childhood. Participants were 94 mother–child dyads divided into two subgroups; 46 dyads where children had histories of intrafamilial (n = 22 dyads) or extrafamilial (n = 24 dyads) sexual abuse, and a community control group composed of 48 mother–child dyads. RF of children and their mothers was assessed using videotaped and transcribed data gathered using the Child Attachment Interview and the Parent Development Interview (PDI: Slade, Aber, Bresi, Berger, & Kaplan, 2004, The parent development interview‐Revised. New York, NY: The City University of New York). The findings indicate that the CRFS proved reliable, with excellent intraclass correlation coefficients for general RF, as well as RF regarding self and others. Significant differences in RF were found between sexually abused children and the control group, and also between children who had experienced intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse. This provides support for the discriminant validity of the CRFS. Furthermore, maternal RF was associated with child RF. Both abuse and maternal RF made significant contributions to predicting children's RF regarding themselves, but child sexual abuse was the only variable that made a significant contribution to explaining variance in children's RF regarding others.     

Pluralism in Education: The display of Islamic affiliation in French and British schools

The expression of Islamic affiliation by Muslim students in French and British schools has been perceived as particularly problematic to the extent that it has become a focal point for public and media attention. The controversies over the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in French and British public schools and the state funding of Islamic schools in Britain are case studies representing a range of issues raised by religious pluralism in education, particularly the display of religious affiliation in public schools. In France the prohibition of the Islamic headscarf in public schools provoked a national controversy in 1989. In Britain the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in public schools resulted in a localized and minor debate but the question of state funding of Islamic schools became a major controversial issue in 1990. The press coverage of the case studies is used as an analytical tool with which to examine the exchange of public information and opinion in the press on this type of religious expression. Over 1,500 press articles on the two case studies were published from 1989 to 1998 by selected French and British national daily newspapers, religious papers and education papers. A quantitative analysis of the articles measures the magnitude of each controversy and its prominence in the press. A qualitative content analysis of the articles examines actual press content and compares the primary issues, prevalent opinions and supporting arguments defining the debates in each case study.