Current and Military‐Specific Gender Minority Stress Factors and Their Relationship with Suicide Ideation in Transgender Veterans

Research suggests the prevalence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts in the transgender veteran community may be upwards of 20 times higher than nontransgender veterans, who are known to be at increased risk than the general US population. This study aimed to understand the potential influence of external and internal minority stress experienced during and after military service on past‐year and recent suicide ideation in a sample of 201 transgender veterans. Nonparametric bootstrapping analyses indicated past‐year transgender‐specific discrimination and rejection (external minority stress) indirectly predicted frequency of both past‐year and past 2‐week suicide ideation through past‐year shame related to gender identity (internal minority stress). This result was significant when controlling for symptoms of depression and demographics. Similar patterns emerged when examining relationships among military external and internal minority stress on suicide outcomes. These results suggest that attempts to reduce both the experience and impact of minority stressors related to gender identity during and after military service may be an important avenue for suicide prevention.     

Daily Occupations,Routines, and Social Participation of Homeless Young People

Homelessness disrupts young people’s participation in the productive occupations that facilitate transition to adulthood, impairs social connections, and has a disorganizing effect on their time use. Semi-structured focus group interviews were used to explore how 19 homeless young people perceived their daily routines, meaningful occupations, and social participation to be impacted by the experience of homelessness. Occupational therapy practitioners can use the findings from this study to inform the development of comprehensive community-based programming aimed at increasing social opportunities, developing balanced, healthy routines, decreasing intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to residential stability, and promoting participation in productive and leisure occupations.     

IS REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION ENOUGH? AN EXPLORATION OF WORKFORCE PERSPECTIVES

Infant mental health practice requires the performance of intense emotional labor. Professionals comprising the infant mental health (IMH) field are largely women at seminal points in adult life‐span development. The purpose of this article is to explore the day‐to‐day challenges faced by clinical infant mental health professionals and their perspectives on the supports available for effective job performance. We review reflective supervision as a long‐cherished professional support in the IMH field designed to hold the practitioner's fears, worries, and ambivalence, so that she may return to the work fortified to remain in therapeutic alliance with families despite unsolvable problems and an unknowable future (Weatherston, D., 2009). Yet, we propose that reflective supervision alone may not be an adequate protective measure for a workforce performing intensive emotional labor for extended periods and therefore at potentially increased risk for burnout and high turnover (Hochschild, A.R. 1983 ; C. Maslach, 1982 , C.M. Brotheridge & A.A. Grandey, 2009; A.S. Wharton, 2009 ). We suggest that structural factors concerning organizational culture, flexibility in scheduling, and professional growth and versatility bear deeper examination for their merits in supporting the IMH workforce. Finally, we contend that the overrepresentation of women in practitioner positions in IMH leaves an empirical gap where little is known about the experience of male IMH practitioners and the ramifications of their performance of emotional labor.     

Parental Problem Drinking and Emerging Adult Problem Behavior: The Moderating Role of Parental Support

This study examined the relationship between parental problem drinking (maternal and paternal) and emerging adult problem behaviors (alcohol use, drug use, and antisocial behavior). In addition, the moderating role of parental support (maternal and paternal) was explored. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of emerging adults (N?=?600; Mage?=?20.00, SD?=?1.42; 50% women; 62% White). Results from regression analyses of survey data indicated that both maternal problem drinking and maternal support moderated the relationship between paternal problem drinking and emerging adult alcohol use. For drug use, there was a three-way interaction between paternal problem drinking, maternal problem drinking, and maternal support. The relationship between paternal problem drinking and drug use only was significant for those who reported high maternal problem drinking and low maternal support. For antisocial behavior, there were positive relationships between paternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior and between maternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior in contexts of varying levels of parental support. Findings highlight the potential for parental support to both buffer and enhance the adverse influence of parental problem drinking across varied contexts.     

Statistical learning in typically developing children: the role of age and speed of stimulus presentation

It is possible that statistical learning (SL) plays a role in almost every mental activity. Indeed, research on SL has grown rapidly over recent decades in an effort to better understand perception and cognition. Yet, there remain gaps in our understanding of how SL operates, in particular with regard to its (im)mutability. Here, we investigated whether participant-related variables (such as age) and task-related variables (such as speed of stimulus presentation) affect visual statistical learning (VSL) in typically developing children. We tested 183 participants ranging in age from 5 to 12 years and compared three speeds of presentation (using stimulus durations of 800, 400 and 200 msecs). A multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of both age and speed of presentation - after attention during familiarization and gender had been taken into consideration. VSL followed a developmental trajectory whereby learning increased with age. The amount of learning increased with longer presentation times (as shown by Turk-Browne, Jungé & Scholl, 2005, in their study of adults). There was no significant interaction between the two variables. These findings assist in elucidating the nature of statistical learning itself. While statistical learning can be observed in very young children and at remarkably fast presentation times, participant- and task-related variables do impact upon this type of learning. The findings reported here may serve to enhance our understanding of individual differences in the cognitive and perceptual processes that are thought to rely, at least in part, on SL (e.g. language processing and object recognition).     

Happiness and International Migration

In this paper, we consider the extent to which the aggregate happiness of a country affects the flow of people across its borders. We merge data from the World Values Survey, which produces happiness indices for 84 countries between 1981 and 2004, with three different migration datasets: emigration rates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, immigration rates from the U.S. Census, and net migration rates from the United Nations. We find that happiness has a U-shaped relationship with emigration rates: emigration rates fall in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but rise for relatively happy countries. The U-shaped relationship also holds for migrant flows into the U.S. When analyzing net migration rates, we find that the reverse relationship exists. Net migration is associated with an increase in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but after a threshold level of happiness, net migration is associated with a decrease in happiness. Our findings are robust to various empirical specifications and datasets.     

A longitudinal assessment of the home literacy environment and early language

This longitudinal assessment concentrated on the relation between the home literacy environment (HLE) and early language acquisition during infancy and toddlerhood. In study 1, after controlling for socio‐economic status, a broadly defined HLE predicted language comprehension in 50 infants. In study 2, 27 children returned for further analyses. Findings revealed that the HLE measured in infancy predicted language production in toddlerhood and maternal redirecting behaviours measured in toddlerhood were negatively associated with expressive language. Results across both studies indicate the importance of a broadly defined HLE (including joint attention and parent–child conversation) for language development. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of the HLE in supporting both receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in the second and third years of life. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.