SEXIST DISCRIMINATION MAY ACCOUNT FOR WELL-KNOWN GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS

It was hypothesized that women may have more depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms than men because they experience a deleterious stressor that men do not: sexist treatment. A total of 255 students (180 females, 75 males) at a state university completed an anonymous questionnaire containing measures of these symptoms. Women were found to exhibit significantly greater symptoms than men on all of them. Further, women who experienced frequent sexism had significantly more symptoms than men on all symptom measures, whereas women who experienced little sexism did not differ from men on any symptom measure. These findings suggest that gender-specific stressors not only play a role in psychiatric symptoms among women but may account for well-known gender differences in those symptoms as well.     

Violence Exposure and Sexual Risk Behaviors for African American Adolescent Girls: The Protective Role of Natural Mentorship and Organizational Religious Involvement

African American adolescent girls are at increased risk of being exposed to community violence and being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. Fewer studies, however, have examined the protective roles of natural mentorship and organizational religious involvement as potential moderators that could lessen the effects of violence exposure on health risk behavior. Data from 273 African American ninth grade girls were used to test hypothesized independent and moderated‐moderation models. Results suggest that natural mentorship and religious involvement were protective for girls who reported at least one mentor and moderate to high levels of religious involvement. Our findings may be relevant for community stakeholders and organizations that directly interact with religious institutions and community programs that focus on outreach to African American adolescent girls.     

Perceived discrimination and mental health symptoms among Black men with HIV

People living with HIV (PLWH) exhibit more severe mental health symptoms, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, than do members of the general public. We examined whether perceived discrimination, which has been associated with poor mental health in prior research, contributes to greater depression and PTSD symptoms among HIV-positive Black men who have sex with men (MSM), who are at high risk for discrimination from multiple stigmatized characteristics (HIV-serostatus, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation). A total of 181 Black MSM living with HIV completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI) that included measures of mental health symptoms (depression, PTSD) and scales assessing perceived discrimination due to HIV-serostatus, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. In bivariate tests, all three perceived discrimination scales were significantly associated with greater symptoms of depression and PTSD (i.e., reexperiencing, avoidance, and arousal subscales; all p values < .05). The multivariate model for depression yielded a three-way interaction among all three discrimination types (p < .01), indicating that perceived racial discrimination was negatively associated with depression symptoms when considered in isolation from other forms of discrimination, but positively associated when all three types of discrimination were present. In multivariate tests, only perceived HIV-related discrimination was associated with PTSD symptoms (p < .05). Findings suggest that some types of perceived discrimination contribute to poor mental health among PLWH. Researchers need to take into account intersecting stigmata when developing interventions to improve mental health among PLWH.     

An Examination of the Association between Difficulties with Emotion Regulation and Dating Violence Perpetration

The perpetration of aggression in dating relationships is a prevalent problem among college students. Research that examines factors related to perpetrating dating violence is needed, as this could help guide prevention programming. This study examined how emotion regulation is related to dating violence perpetration among male and female college students (N = 440). Findings showed that the association between broad difficulties with emotion regulation, as well as more specific emotion regulation problems, were associated with dating violence perpetration and could differentiate individuals who had perpetrated and not perpetrated aggression. These findings varied slightly depending on the gender of the perpetrator and the type of aggression examined. Implications of these findings for prevention programs and future research are discussed.     

Risk factors for onset of eating disorders: Evidence of multiple risk pathways from an 8-year prospective study

Objective

Use classification tree analysis with lagged predictors to determine empirically derived cut-points for identifying adolescent girls at risk for future onset of threshold, subthreshold, and partial eating disorders and test for interactions between risk factors that may implicate qualitatively distinct risk pathways.

Method

Data were drawn from a prospective study of 496 adolescent girls who completed diagnostic interviews and surveys annually for 8 years.

Results

Body dissatisfaction emerged as the most potent predictor; adolescent girls in the upper 24% of body dissatisfaction showed a 4.0-fold increased incidence of eating disorder onset (24% vs. 6%). Among participants in the high body dissatisfaction branch, those in the upper 32% of depressive symptoms showed a 2.9-fold increased incidence of onset (43% vs. 15%). Among participants in the low body dissatisfaction branch, those in the upper 12% of dieting showed a 3.6-fold increased incidence onset (18% vs. 5%).

Conclusion

This three-way interaction suggests a body dissatisfaction pathway to eating disorder onset that is amplified by depressive symptoms, as well as a pathway characterized by self-reported dieting among young women who are more satisfied with their bodies. It may be possible to increase the effectiveness of prevention programs by targeting each of these qualitatively distinct risk groups, rather than only individuals with a single risk factor.     

LGB-Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Social Anxiety: A Case Study Applying Evidence-Based Practice Principles

Guided by the American Psychological Association's principles of evidence-based practice, this article reviews a single-case treatment outcome study whereby a client characteristic, sexual identity, was integrated into the assessment and treatment of social anxiety symptoms. The case involved a young adult European-American male who presented to a training clinic with a primary diagnosis of social anxiety disorder as well as secondary symptoms of excessive worry and concerns of sexual identity confusion. Recent evidence suggests that gay men report more symptoms of social anxiety when compared to heterosexual men, and those who make more efforts to conceal their sexual identity experience increased anxiety and have greater difficulty committing to a personal identity. Further, it has been hypothesized that fear of rejection from heterosexual individuals underlies this anxiety. The client attended 50 sessions over the course of 18 months. Treatment progress was assessed via self-report questionnaires assessing social anxiety and worry. Consistent with principles of evidence-based practice, a cognitive behavioral treatment protocol was employed at the outset of therapy and resulted in a decline in the client's social anxiety scores. However, once the case conceptualization and treatment focus shifted to focus on sexual identity, his scores continued to decline at an even steeper rate. He ultimately came to identify himself as having a same-sex sexual orientation, began living his life in a manner consistent with that identification, and reported a number of positive outcomes at termination of therapy. Implications for treatment of social anxiety in sexual minorities are discussed.     

The pattern of subjective anxiety during in-session exposures over the course of cognitive-behavioral therapy for clients with social anxiety disorder

Exposure-based therapies are efficacious treatments for social anxiety disorder (i.e., Gould et al., 1997). Much of the theory behind these treatments is derived from Foa and colleagues' (Foa, Huppert, & Cahill, 2005; Foa & Kozak, 1986) work on emotional processing. However, there has been little research examining individual differences in emotional processing patterns within and between treatment sessions among clients with social anxiety disorder. This study utilized longitudinal data analytic methods to examine changes in subjective anxiety during the first 3 exposure sessions in group and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that, although anxiety generally decreases across exposures, some individuals experience considerable fluctuations in anxiety during a single exposure. Although anxiety during the first exposure was not significantly related to outcome, the relationship between anxiety during exposure and outcome became stronger during subsequent exposures. Overall, this study highlights the need to conduct more fine-grained analyses to better understand the mechanisms underlying exposure-based therapies for social anxiety disorder.     

Shifting attention into and out of objects: evaluating the processes underlying the object advantage

Visual cuing studies have been widely used to demonstrate and explore contributions from both object- and location-based attention systems. A common finding has been a response advantage for shifts of attention occurring within an object, relative to shifts of an equal distance between objects. The present study examined this advantage for within-object shifts in terms of engage and disengage operations within the object- and location-based attention systems. The rationale was that shifts of attention between objects require object-based attention to disengage from one object before shifting to another, something that is not required for shifts of attention within an object or away from a location. One- and two-object displays were used to assess object-based contributions related to disengaging and engaging attention within, between, into, and out of objects. The results suggest that the "object advantage" commonly found in visual cuing experiments in which shifts of attention are required is primarily due to disengage operations associated with object-based attention.