Contextualizing Gender and Acculturative Influences on Sexual Initiation of Asian Indian Emerging Adults

Although Asian Indians represent one the fastest growing demographics in the United States, no studies exist on the sexual behavior of Asian Indian youth or its association with acculturation. Previous research has demonstrated a link between earlier sexual initiation and subsequent sexual risk and the role of acculturation and sexual initiation in other Asian groups. The present exploratory study examined gender and acculturation with regard to sexual initiation in Asian Indians (n = 37). Results reveal no significant gender differences in sexual initiation and total acculturation scores. Gender differences did emerge for the association among sexual behaviors and the influence of specific areas of acculturation on sexual initiation. Findings suggest that gender and acculturation may be important variables in understanding sexual behavior but that current acculturation measures may be insufficient to adequately assess acculturation levels of Asian Indian youth. Future research should focus on Asian Indians as an understudied minority group.     

Is it Too Soon to Meet? Examining Differences in Geosocial Networking App Use and Sexual Risk Behavior of Emerging Adults

Location-based geosocial networking smartphone applications (GSN apps) have become a popular way to meet romantic and casual sex partners. Although first used primarily by men who have sex with men (MSM), GSN apps are now commonly used in the population at large, particularly among emerging adults. Although, these apps may potentially contribute to increases in STI/HIV incidence, previous research linking GSN app use to sexual risk behavior has been mixed, with some suggesting app users report greater sexual risk behavior and others suggesting less. The present paper details findings of two studies with independent samples of emerging adults. The first, a pilot study, examined GSN app use among young MSM (n = 64) to identify possible within-group factors relating dating app use to sexual risk behavior. Results indicated that the time app users spent talking to each other through the app before meeting in person (time before meeting) was related to engagement in sexual risk behavior. Those who talked less before meeting in person engaged in more sexual risk behaviors than those who spent more time talking before meeting in person. The second study sought to expand upon this finding in a more representative sample of GSN app users (n = 129) and compared sexual risk behavior and impulsivity to non-users (n = 88). There were no differences in sexual risk behavior between GSN app users and non-users. However, when examining app users by time before meeting, those with a shorter time before meeting were more impulsive and more likely to report sexual risk behavior. These findings highlight the importance of understanding GSN app use in the spread of STIs/HIV among emerging adults.     

Health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease after pallidotomy and deep brain stimulation

This study explored the multidimensional outcome of three neurosurgical interventions for Parkinson's disease (PD): pallidotomy (N = 23), pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) (N = 9), and thalamic DBS (N = 7). All patients completed the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the Beck Depression Inventory. Pallidotomy patients also completed the Profile of Mood States, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and a disease-specific quality of life (QOL) measure, the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Three months after surgery, all neurosurgical groups showed significant improvements in mood and function, including physical, psychosocial, and overall functioning. Pallidal DBS and pallidotomy patients who completed additional QOL measures reported decreased anxiety and tension, increased vigor, improved mobility and ability to perform activities of daily living, and decreased perceived stigma. Psychosocial dysfunction scores from the SIP were related to depressed mood both at baseline (r = .42) and at followup (r = .45), but the physical dysfunction subscale was not related to mood at either time point, suggesting that disruption of social relationships due to PD may have more impact on affective distress than physical symptoms alone. Results suggest that neurosurgical interventions for PD improve disabling PD motor symptoms and also improve several domains of quality of life.     

Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health

Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination and worrying about discrimination were negatively associated with some dimensions of self-esteem and positively associated with depression and stress. Adolescents were aware of negative stereotypes about Puerto Ricans, and nearly half of them related discriminatory instances. Results suggest that both perceiving discrimination and anxiety regarding discrimination can serve as risk factors for the mental health of this population.     

Luria in Uzbekistan: The Vicissitudes of Cross-Cultural Neuropsychology

If the material conditions of culture shape cognitive structures, as Luria and Vygotsky argued, the extraordinarily deep and rapid restructuring of historical forms (Luria, 1971, 265) in the Soviet Republics that followed the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 provided a natural laboratory to determine whether processes of modernization changed traditional ways of thinking. This was the purpose of Luria's 1931 expedition to the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan in central Asia. Luria's initial reports attracted vitriolic criticism because he had allegedly belittled primitive Uzbeki culture. The lasting importance of the Uzbek expedition is its emphasis on culture as a determinant of cognitive processes that remains valid to the present: in 1984, Gilbert replicated Luria's field studies in South Africa with near-identical results. Yet current neuropsychology has been slow to recognize the need for culturally sensitive assessment.     

An Integrative Brief Treatment Approach for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

This article reports on the integrated application of cognitive therapy, transactional analysis techniques, and the behavioral technique of response prevention using self-instructional training and behavioral substitution in a brief therapy approach. These methods were applied in the case of a young man who presented with compulsions to perform repetitive and ordering rituals with the belief that it would prevent his girlfriend from becoming pregnant. A 21-year-old white male who had performed 3 to 5 hours of rituals daily for several years was able to eliminate the majority of his compulsive behaviors and reduce his level of anxiety after eight clinical therapy sessions. Results were maintained at 6-month follow-up. The clear precipitating factors and the unusual maintaining variables for the disorder in the client are described. The author discusses the case in light of current theoretical, therapeutic, and biomedical understandings of the disorder.     

Early and late introduction of probes and stimulus control acquisition in fading

College students learned to name Braille patterns presented visually using a fading procedure in which Braille patterns were superimposed on letter names after which letter names were attenuated. Measurement of acquisition was accomplished by presenting probes—consisting of the Braille stimuli only—throughout fading. Effects of probes upon acquisition were assessed by introducing probes early or late in fading. Fewer fading levels were needed for Braille elements to acquire control when probes were introduced early rather than late. When probes were introduced late, all subjects learned to name the Braille elements as the letters were being faded out. When probes were introduced early, however, most subjects learned to name the Braille elements as they were being faded in. Since virtually no errors occurred during compound-stimulus presentations, the probe procedure did not induce errors during acquisition. Quantitative analysis of probe data suggested that inclusion of probes enhanced the control acquired by the Braille elements during compound-stimulus presentations. The reported effects may have been due to differences in the relative frequency of reinforcement presented during compounds and probes.     

Union Influence on Internal Organizational Decisions: An Empirical Analysis

The development of appropriate models of organizational decision making requires a complete determination of the different groups that affect the decision-making process. The present investigation examines the influence of union officials as a group on internal organizational decisions. The rank and file membership of three local unions ( N = 1324) and their first level supervisors ( N = 205) were surveyed regarding the perceived influence of five different groups within the organizational hierarchy. A methodology developed by Tannenbaum (1968) and his associates was modified to include lower-level union representatives as one of five groups who potentially wield influence over organizational decisions. The results of this investigation determined that union representatives are seen as possessing significant levels of influence regarding microlevel organizational decisions. Additional analyses revealed that first-level supervisors believed that union representatives possessed more influence in organizational decisions than they possessed as a group. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

STIMULUS GENERALIZATION AND EQUIVALENCE CLASSES: A MODEL FOR NATURAL CATEGORIES

Two three-member classes were formed by training AB and BC using a conditional discrimination procedure. The A and B stimuli were nonsense syllables, and the C stimuli were sets of “short” or “long” lines. To test for equivalence, C1 or C2 was presented as a sample with A1 and A2 as comparisons. Once the class-related comparison was chosen consistently, different line lengths were substituted for the training lines in the CA tests. In general, the likelihood of choosing a given comparison was an inverse function of the difference in the length of the test line from the training line. Stimuli in an equivalence class became functionally related not only to each other but also to novel stimuli that resembled a member of the equivalence class. The combination of primary generalization and equivalence class formation, then, can serve as a model to account for the development of naturally occurring categories.     

Family therapy in primary health care: Skills training and outcome evaluation

Some of the theoretical tenets of family therapy such as emphasis on the activation and utilization of existing family resources and the importance it accords to context appear to have a good fit with primary health care's commitment to empowering individuals in their struggle against ill health and the circumstances in which it occurs. This paper explores the possibility of teaching a problem-solving approach to family therapy to nurses in a South African primary health care system. Training consisted of conceptual, pragmatic, and self-growth exercises, and trainees' conceptual and performance skills were compared to the skills of a group of untrained nurses.We thank Bukelwa Selema, co-trainer on the program, for her contributions to joining effectively with the nurses and enriching the experiential process. We also thank Dr. P.J. Beukes, Dr. J.H. Olivier, Dr. G.M. Louw, Matron L.C. Langley and other staff in the Soweto primary health care system for their support. In particular, we are grateful to nursing sisters Martha Nkoane and Millicent Matomela, who roleplayed clients on the videotaped training modules. We are also grateful to Edcent Williams, who was one of the videotape raters, and Mike Spruce, Ricky Snyders, Nico Cloete, Ricky Mauer, and Brenda Radebe for their inputs at various stages of designing and implementing the programme.