Do Prosecutors Use Interview Instructions or Build Rapport with Child Witnesses?

This study examined the quality of interview instructions and rapport-building provided by prosecutors to 168 children aged 5–12 years testifying in child sexual abuse cases, preceding explicit questions about abuse allegations. Prosecutors failed to effectively administer key interview instructions, build rapport, or rely on open-ended narrative producing prompts during this early stage of questioning. Moreover, prosecutors often directed children's attention to the defendant early in the testimony. The productivity of different types of wh- questions varied, with what/how questions focusing on actions being particularly productive. The lack of instructions, poor quality rapport-building, and closed-ended questioning suggest that children may not be adequately prepared during trial to provide lengthy and reliable reports to their full ability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spiritual Well-Being Among HIV-Infected Adolescents and Their Families

Congruence in spirituality between HIV+ adolescent (n = 40)/family (n = 40) dyads and psychological adjustment and quality of life were assessed, using the Spiritual Well-Being Scale of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory at baseline and 3-month post-intervention. Adolescents were 60 % female and 92 % African American. Congruence in spirituality between adolescent/surrogate dyads remained unchanged at 3 months. High congruence existed for “having a reason for living”; rejection of “life lacks meaning/purpose” and “HIV is a punishment from God.” Adolescents were less likely to forgive the harm others caused them than their families.     

“I Fired My Last Doctor for Not Taking Me Seriously”: Collaborating With a Difficult Medical Patient in a Multidisciplinary Primary Care Facility

We present the case of a multidisciplinary primary care assessment of a 32-year-old woman with multiple medical and psychological complaints. Following the collaborative care model, this assessment was conducted by a team consisting of a clinical health psychologist, Dr. J. L. Skillings, and a family physician, Dr. W. J. Murdoch. We describe the primary care environment in which this referral was made including the methods that were utilized to insure a successful professional collaboration. We report the results and recommendations from a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment; we place emphasis on the psychological diagnosis and pain symptoms. We also describe the feedback session in which the assessment results were provided to the patient and her spouse by both physician and psychologist. Multiperspective commentary about the assessment is offered by the patient and her husband as well as the physician and psychologist assessors.     

A bit of a circus: Notes on postmodernity and new age

The religious phenomenon known as New Age and the social/cultural condition referred to as ‘postmodernity’ appear to have a number of features in common. As yet, little work has been done exploring these apparent similarities, but the topic is ripe for investigation. The debate over postmodernity is open to ‘religious’ possibilities. This contrasts with modernity, one of whose motifs was the exclusion of religion. Moreover, both postmodernity and New Age may be seen as responses to a perceived ‘crisis of modernity’. Specifically, some of their putative connections are as follows; both refer to a new era, both abandon old verities, in both self and consumption are central issues, neither is sanguine about politics, both assume new modes of organization, both may be viewed in terms of globalization and both may be understood in terms of the fin de siècle.     

Combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery for transgender patients in an integrated health care setting

Background: Hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery for gender affirmation have traditionally been performed as separate surgeries. Our institution offers these surgeries as a single combined procedure, typically with same-day discharge. Decreasing the number of times patients need to have surgery may reduce barriers to care by limiting surgical and hospital stay events. Our primary objective was to describe the perioperative experience of transgender patients who underwent combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery.

Methods: This retrospective case series assessed patients who underwent combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery between 2013 and 2015 in an integrated health care setting in the United States. Chart reviews were performed for outcomes of interest, which included operative and postoperative complications.

Results: We identified 25 patients who underwent a combined hysterectomy and mastectomy for the indication of gender transition. Preoperative patient characteristics included a median age of 31, with a median BMI of 25. Ninety-two percent of the patients were on testosterone therapy at the time of surgery. A total of 76% and 24% of patients had laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomies, respectively. Intraoperatively, the average blood loss was 104 mL, and there were no complications. Eighty percent of patients were discharged on the same day. Postoperatively, 92% of patients experienced no major complications. One patient received a uterine artery embolization and blood transfusion for postoperative intraabdominal bleeding, and one patient presented 9 weeks after surgery with partial vaginal cuff dehiscence requiring a cuff revision. There were no re-admissions within six months of surgery. There were no major mastectomy-related complications.

Conclusions: Combined surgeries are feasible and reduce the number of surgical events and hospital stays. There were no complications that could be attributed to undergoing two procedures as a single incident.     

Constructing representations of spatial location from briefly presented displays

Spatial memory and reasoning rely heavily on allocentric (often map-like) representations of spatial knowledge. While research has documented many ways in which spatial information can be represented in allocentric form, less is known about how such representations are constructed. For example: Are the very early, pre-attentive parts of the process hard-wired, or can they be altered by experience? We addressed this issue by presenting sub-saccadic (53 ms) masked stimuli consisting of a target among one to three reference features. We then shifted the location of the feature array, and asked participants to identify the target’s new relative location. Experience altered feature processing even when the display duration was too short to allow attention re-allocation. The results demonstrate the importance of early perceptual processes in the creation of representations of spatial location, and the malleability of those processes based on experience and expectations.     

Menopausal attitudes, objectified body consciousness, aging anxiety, and body esteem: European American women's body experiences in midlife

Seventy-four European American women aged 50-68 years completed surveys of menopausal attitudes, appearance aging anxiety, body esteem, body surveillance, and body shame. Hypotheses based on the connections between cultural constructions of femininity and menopause were partially supported. Menopausal attitudes and appearance-related aging anxiety were related to body surveillance. Appearance-related menopausal attitudes were related to both body surveillance and body esteem. Body shame moderated the relationship between appearance-related menopausal attitudes and body esteem.