Stigma, Culture, and HIV and AIDS in the Western Cape, South Africa: An Application of the PEN-3 Cultural Model for Community-Based Research

HIV- and AIDS-related stigma has been reported to be a major factor contributing to the spread of HIV. In this study, the authors explore the meaning of stigma and its impact on HIV and AIDS in South African families and health care centers. They conducted focus group and key informant interviews among African and Colored populations in Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, and Mitchell's Plain in the Western Cape province. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo. Using the PEN-3 cultural model, the authors analyzed results showing that participants' shared experiences ranged from positive/nonstigmatizing, to existential/unique to the contexts, to negative/stigmatizing. Families and health care centers were found to have both positive nonstigmatizing values and negative stigmatizing characteristics in addressing HIV/AIDS-related stigma. The authors conclude that a culture-centered analysis, relative to identity, is central to understanding the nature and contexts of HIV/AIDS-related stigma in South Africa.     

Familiarity and emotional expression influence an early stage of face processing: an electrophysiological study

Recent data indicate that the familiarity and the emotional expression of faces occur at an early stage of information processing. The goal of the present study was to determine whether these two aspects interact at the structural encoding stage as reflected by the N170 component of event-related potentials in tasks requiring the subjects either to identify whether the faces were familiar or the nature of the emotional expression. The results indicate that the neural responses to level of familiarity and emotional expression were observable at this early processing stage but without interacting. In particular, faces of personal importance to the subjects differed from those of less personal importance. Because familiarity did not interact with emotional expression at behavioral and electrophysiologic levels, our results support the contention of parallel and independent processing of faces.     

ERPs associated with visual duration discriminations in prefrontal and parietal cortex

An event-related potentials (ERP) study was undertaken to examine the role of prefrontal and parietal association cortices on selective attention and short-term memory functions in a duration discrimination task. Subjects performed better when discriminating the first stimulus relative to the second and not the reverse. Two contingent negative variations (CNV) were obtained for each stimulus duration at prefrontal regions, as well as two P300s at parietal regions. The CNV(S1) component recorded during the first stimulus (S1) appeared to be involved in selective attention at bilateral sites, while the P300(S1) component in the left hemisphere may be implicated in retaining it. The CNV(S2) wave, displayed during the second stimulus (S2), at bilateral sites and the right-sided P300(S2) wave seem to be implicated in working memory. The results indicate that recorded activity at prefrontal and parietal association cortices is tightly linked to task parameters and behavioral performances.     

Correlates of Children's Eating Attitude Test scores among primary school children

A total of 107 Malay primary school girls (8-9 yr. old) completed a set of measurements on eating behavior (ChEAT, food neophobia scales, and dieting experience), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, body shape satisfaction, dietary intake, weight, and height. About 38% of the girls scored 20 and more on the ChEAT, and 46% of them reported dieting by reducing sugar and sweets (73%), skipping meals (67%), reducing fat foods (60%) and snacks (53%) as the most frequent methods practiced. In general, those girls with higher ChEAT scores tended to have lower self-esteem (r=.39), indicating they were more unwilling to try new foods (food neophobic) (r=.29), chose a smaller figure for desired body size (r=-.25), and were more dissatisfied with their body size (r=.31).     

Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Patients: The Association with Religiosity and Religious Coping

There is a lack of studies looking into religiosity and religious coping in cancer patient. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the religiosity using Duke University Religion Index, religious coping using Brief Religious Coping Scale, anxiety and depression based on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale among 200 cancer patients. The association between religiosity and religious coping with anxiety and depression was studied. The findings showed that subjects with anxiety or depression used more negative religious coping and had lower non-organization religiosity. Hence, measurements in reducing negative religious coping and encouraging religious activities could help to reduce psychological distress in cancer patients.     

Effets de la catégorisation simple et de la catégorisation croisée sur les stéréotypes

L'objectif de ce travail était d'appliquer le paradigme expérimental du croisement des catégories à l'étude des relations entre des sujets de nationalités différentes. Dans cette perspective, une expérience a été menée avec 28 sujets américains et 28 français. Comme attendu, en situation de catégorisation simple chaque groupe de sujets Américains ou Français a évalué positivement son groupe et dévalorisé l'autre. Ces effets ont été annulés en situation de catégorisation croisée. Cependant, cette annulation ne persiste pas lors d'un post-test réalisé trois semaines plus tard. Une discussion de ces effets a été établie.