Prenatal depression predicts postpartum maternal attachment in low-income Latina mothers with infants

Although maternal attachment is an important predictor of infant attachment security and other developmental outcomes, little is known about the formation of maternal attachment in the first few months of the infant's life, particularly among ethnic minority mothers. The current study examined the predictors of postpartum maternal attachment in a sample of 217 Latina women enrolled in a perinatal depression prevention trial. Mothers’ attachment to their infants was measured at 6-8 weeks postpartum using the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale. A variety of predictors of early attachment were explored including: depressive symptoms during pregnancy, pregnancy intention, feelings about the pregnancy, and the quality of the partner relationship. The strongest predictor of lower maternal attachment was depressive symptoms late in pregnancy; pregnancy intention was marginally predictive of attachment, with lower scores being associated with unwanted pregnancies. The study fills a critical gap in our understanding of the role of depressive symptoms during pregnancy in shaping mothers’ early attachment to their infants.     

Weight perception, weight change intentions, and alcohol use among young adults

Obesity and binge drinking are important health issues for young adults in the United States. Several studies have investigated the relationship between these constructs with mixed results. One possible explanation to disentangle this relationship suggests that how people feel about their weight, regardless of their actual weight, may explain some variation in alcohol use. This study (n = 4497) investigated the relationship between two types of body weight concerns--weight perception and weight change intentions--and binge drinking. Controlling for measured body weight, we considered whether body weight concerns increase risk for binge drinking. Findings suggest that women who reported trying to lose weight had an increased risk of binge drinking. Conversely, men who perceived themselves overweight were significantly less likely to participate in binge drinking. We conclude with a discussion of the finding's implications.     

Intention Attribution in Theory of Mind and Moral Judgment

The present research investigated how children would weigh moral acts pitted against intent, across different moral domains. Twenty primary school children were recruited from an existing database and evaluated a set of acts (good-bad) on the basis of intent (good-bad) across three domains (harm, fairness, and social convention) on a 7-point Likert scale. The study found that children took into account the intention of an agent. Interestingly, intent has a differential effect on the evaluation of acts; it was more pronounced for good acts, but less so for bad acts. For the evaluation of bad acts, children placed greater weight on the intrinsic nature of the act rather than the protagonist’s intent. Conversely, whether the intent is good or bad influenced the evaluation of good acts to a greater extent. These findings not only lend support to the domain-specific view of moral reasoning but also show that children do not attribute intent in a unitary manner within theory of mind.     

Emotion,Decision, and Risk: Betting on Gambles versus Betting on People

We examined the effects of two emotions, fear and anger, on risk‐taking behavior in two types of tasks: Those in which uncertainty is generated by a randomizing device (“lottery risk”) and those in which it is generated by the uncertain behavior of another person (“person‐based risk”). Participants first completed a writing task to induce fear or anger. They then made choices either between lotteries (Experiment 1) or between actions in risky two‐person decisions (Experiments 2 and 3). The experiments involved substantial real‐money payoffs. Replicating earlier studies (which used hypothetical rewards), Experiment 1 showed that fearful participants were more risk‐averse than angry participants in lottery‐risk tasks. However—the key result of this study—fearful participants were substantially less risk‐averse than angry participants in a two‐person task involving person‐based risk (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 offered options and payoffs identical to those of Experiment 2 but with lottery‐type risk. Risk‐taking returned to the pattern of Experiment 1. The impact of incidental emotions on risk‐taking appears to be contingent on the class of uncertainty involved. For lottery risk, fear increased the frequency of risk‐averse choices and anger reduced it. The reverse pattern was found when uncertainty in the decision was person‐based. Further, the effect was specifically on differences in willingness to take risks rather than on differences in judgments of how much risk was present. The impact of different emotions on risk‐taking or risk‐avoiding behavior is thus contingent on the type, as well as the degree, of uncertainty the decision maker faces. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is Smoking Queer? Implications of California Tobacco Denormalization Strategies for Queer Current and Former Smokers

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with normative conceptions of health structuring tobacco control strategies designed to “denormalize” tobacco use. Analysis of 201 interviews with non-heterosexual and/or non-cisgender adults in California revealed that participants implicated tobacco use in exacerbating health inequities and perpetuating harmful narratives of queer suffering, but also regarded smoking as a critical tool for self-care and symbol of resistance. Participant narratives suggest that using stigma in health promotion efforts which reinforce normative conceptions of health may be harmful to queer people whose social identities exist within ongoing legacies of pathology, health stigma, and deviance from hegemonic structural norms.     

Liberal Nationalism and Territorial Rights

Abstract This essay sets out from the strain of liberal political thought which, in recent years, has come to the defence of nationalism, and raises some preliminary thoughts concerning its appropriate application to the very concrete issue of national territorial rights. It asks what type of justifications could be morally acceptable to "liberal nationalism" for the acquisition and holding of territory. To this end, the paper takes a brief look at five central arguments for territorial entitlement which have become predominant in political debates. These are: so called "historical rights" to territory; demands for territorial restitution; efficiency arguments; claims of entitlement to territories settled by co-nationals; and lastly, territorial demands based on claims of equal entitlement to the earth's natural resources. These popular arguments point towards several potential criteria for the arbitration of territorial conflicts. The paper attempts to outline the morally relevant guidelines for thinking about territorial issues that flow from, or are at least consistent with, applying liberal values to the national phenomenon. It places the territorial aspect of nationalism at the head of the liberal nationalist agenda and offers an initial common ground for discussion (including disagreement) among liberals, and for the mediation of claims between nations.     

Occupational Identity,Competence, and Environments Among Adults With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Exploring occupational adaptation among adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is essential due to associated occupational difficulties. Occupational Performance History Interview scales—identity, competence, and environments—were compared between 51 adults with and 50 without ADHD who participated in occupations. Internal and external resources supporting occupational participations were represented by the competence and environment scales, respectively. The group with ADHD reported fewer internal and external occupational resources compared to the group without ADHD, despite occupational identity similarities. Study findings suggest that occupational interventions aimed at increasing internal and external occupational resources may support occupational adaptation among adults with ADHD.