Creative,Culturally-Sensitive Counseling for Pediatric Oncology Patients Undergoing Treatment

The author presents culturally relevant strategies for creative counseling with children who have been diagnosed with cancer. In addition, therapeutic foundations and cultural considerations for using creative methods with pediatric oncology populations are discussed. Finally, the author outlines the use of specific creative interventions to assist this population including Beads of Courage, drum therapy, art, games, music, and poetry.     

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: HOW AND WHY WOMEN BECOME AND REMAIN ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

This research examines women's narratives regarding the experiences that lead to becoming, sustaining, and challenging active community leaders. Seventeen women neighborhood leaders, age 28 to 73 years, completed in-depth interviews. Qualitative thematic content analyses identified prominent themes in participants' responses that were subsequently linked to a generativity framework. Analyses revealed that leaders reported circuitous rather than linear paths of emerging community participation and growing up among others who demonstrated an ethos of care in informal as well as formal community practices. Women's initial community engagement was most often in response to invitations to address community needs. Both communal and agentic rewards and challenges to community involvement were identified. Based upon the findings, strategies for promoting and sustaining women's community leadership are identified.     

The influence of desire for control on drivers' risk-taking behaviour

Increases in perceived control over the driving task are known to increase intended driving speeds. Also, some people like being in control more than others. In the present study, we compared drivers with a high desire for control and drivers with a low desire for control, as measured on Burger and Cooper's (1979) [Motivation and Emotion 3 (4) (1979) 381] Desirability of Control Scale. Using validated video simulation techniques, we found that drivers with a high desire for control intended to drive at faster speeds and were willing to pull out into smaller gaps in traffic. We discuss the results in terms of an illusion of control and we describe implications for road safety interventions.     

Genetic Counseling for Fetal Abnormalities in a South African Community

Fetal abnormalities are congenital abnormalities identified prenatally. Women who have a fetal abnormality detected often have to make difficult decisions regarding continuation or termination of the pregnancy. The aims of this research project were: to investigate some of the factors that influenced the decision to terminate a pregnancy in which fetal abnormalities were diagnosed; and to determine the implications for genetic counseling practice in South Africa. The study was retrospective and file-based. A total of 171 women counseled for fetal abnormalities, between 2002 and 2006, were identified and relevant data were collected from their records. Altogether 116/170 (68.2%) women were offered termination of pregnancy, and 73/113 (65%) requested the procedure. Early gestation, gestation at the time termination was offered, and ethnicity of the patient, were significantly associated with a termination request. Black patients were less likely to request termination, but more likely to receive a late diagnosis than other patients. Genetic counselors need to adopt an advocacy and educational role to improve this situation. Furthermore, a better understanding of the cultural and ethnicity-related issues is required.     

Perfectionistic Cognitions Pre-Pandemic Predict Greater Anxiety Symptoms During the Pandemic Among Emerging Adults: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - This study employed a two-wave cross-lagged panel analysis to examine associations between perfectionistic cognitions, anxiety, and...     

Pregnant Women’s Perspectives on Expanded Carrier Screening

Expanded carrier screening (ECS) is a relatively new carrier screening option that assesses many conditions simultaneously, as opposed to traditional ethnicity-based carrier screening for a limited number of conditions. This study aimed to explore pregnant women’s perspectives on ECS, including reasons for electing or declining and anxiety associated with this decision-making. A total of 80 pregnant women were surveyed from Northwestern Medicine’s Clinical Genetics Division after presenting for aneuploidy screening. Of the 80 participants, 40 elected and 40 declined ECS. Trends regarding reasons for electing or declining ECS include ethnicity, desire for genetic risk information, lack of family history, perceived likelihood of being a carrier, and perceived impact on reproductive decisions. Individuals who declined ECS seemed to prefer ethnicity-based carrier screening and believed that ECS would increase their anxiety, whereas individuals who elected ECS seemed to prefer more screening and tended to believe that ECS would reduce their anxiety. These findings provide insight on decision-making with regard to ECS and can help guide interactions that genetic counselors and other healthcare providers have with patients, including assisting patients in the decision-making process.     

The Role of Beliefs in Mother-Adolescent Conflict: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

This mixed method study applies components of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) to mother-adolescent conflict. We examine if three kinds of beliefs—behavioral, control, and normative—predict patterns of family conflict. Forty mother-adolescent dyads completed an open-ended interview, self-report measures of conflict, and an observational measure of family interaction. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that mothers’ and adolescents’ beliefs about the costs and benefits of conflict significantly predicted how they interacted and perceived conflict within dyads. Sex differences and differences between mothers and adolescents were identified. This work contributes to our understanding of the role of both general and specific beliefs in family conflict.     

Meaning attribution in the West African green monkey: influence of call type and context

The search for the evolutionary roots of human language has fuelled much research into the cognitive mechanisms underlying communication in nonhuman animals. One core issue has been whether the context-specific calls of nonhuman animals are meaningful, with call meaning inferred from recipients’ responses in the absence of supporting contextual cues. This direct inference may well offer an oversimplified view of how vocalisations are perceived, however, as responses under natural conditions are likely guided by contextual cues as well as by the signal. In this study, we investigate how the anti-predator responses of green monkeys, Chlorocebus sabaeus, are affected by alarm call structure and by context. We first simulated the presence of leopards and snakes to elicit alarm vocalisations and to identify predator-typical response behaviours. In both contexts, the monkeys produced chirp calls that revealed only graded variation in relation to predator type. We then carried out playback experiments to explore whether green monkeys would respond with predator-typical behaviour to leopard and snake chirps, and whether contextual cues, in the form of pre-exposure to a leopard or snake model, would modify these responses. Irrespective of context, subjects were more likely to respond to leopard chirps with a leopard-typical response. Predator priming did not have a significant effect on the type of response, but, together with call type, did affect response duration. This suggests that the immediate attribution of meaning was influenced by acoustic cues, whilst receiver’s prior knowledge was incorporated to guide subsequent behaviour.