Acculturation and depressive symptoms in Muslim university students: personal-family acculturation match

The relationships of personal acculturation and of personal-family acculturation match to depressive symptoms were investigated in a sample of 68 Muslim university students. Two dimensions of personal and family acculturation were assessed: heritage and mainstream culture identification. Participants completed the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus, 2000 ) and the depressive disorder subscale of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (Zimmerman & Mattia, 1999 ). For personal acculturation, individuals with high personal heritage culture identification reported fewer lifetime (but not past-year) depressive symptoms. In contrast, individuals with high personal mainstream culture identification reported more past-year (but not lifetime) depressive symptoms. The hypothesis that a match between personal and family acculturation orientation would be associated with fewer depressive symptoms was supported for heritage culture identification only. For past-year depression, the two match conditions (low or high personal and family heritage culture identification) were associated with significantly fewer depressive symptoms than a low personal/high family mismatch but did not differ from a high personal/low family mismatch. For lifetime depression, a high personal/high family match was associated with significantly fewer depressive symptoms than all other conditions. Findings suggests that, for Muslims, a match of high personal and high family heritage culture identification may act as a protective factor for the experience of depressive symptoms both in the short term (past year) and in the long term (lifetime).     

Personality, cognitive appraisal and adjustment in chronic pain patients

This study investigated the relationship between clinical personality patterns and cognitive appraisal as well as their repercussions on adjustment to chronic pain in a sample of 91 patients. It was predicted that clinical personality patterns would be related to adjustment and cognitive appraisal processes, whereas cognitive appraisals would be related to anxiety, depression and levels of perceived pain. The instruments used were as follows: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, the Cognitive Appraisal Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Mann Whitney U-test were used to analyse the data obtained. The results show that certain clinical personality patterns were associated with poor adjustment to chronic pain. The use of cognitive appraisal of harm predicted higher anxiety levels and greater perceived pain in chronic pain patients. The use of cognitive appraisals of challenge predicted lower depression levels.     

Visuotactile apparent motion

This article compares the properties of apparent motion between a light and a touch with apparent motion between either two lights or two touches. Visual and tactile stimulators were attached to the tips of the two index fingers that were held apart at different distances. Subjects rated the quality of apparent motion between each stimulus combination for a range of stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). Subjects reported perceiving apparent motion between all three stimulus combinations. For light—light visual apparent motion, the preferred SOA and the direction threshold SOAs increased as the distance between the stimuli increased (consistent with Korte’s third law of apparent motion). Touch—touch apparent motion also obeyed Korte’s third law, but over a smaller range of distances, showing that proprioceptive information concerning the position of the fingers is integrated into the tactile motion system. The threshold and preferred SOAs for visuotactile apparent motion did not vary with distance, suggesting a different mechanism for multimodal apparent motion.     

Dismantling institutional racism: theory and action

Despite a strong commitment to promoting social change and liberation, there are few community psychology models for creating systems change to address oppression. Given how embedded racism is in institutions such as healthcare, a significant shift in the system's policies, practices, and procedures is required to address institutional racism and create organizational and institutional change. This paper describes a systemic intervention to address racial inequities in healthcare quality called dismantling racism. The dismantling racism approach assumes healthcare disparities are the result of the intersection of a complex system (healthcare) and a complex problem (racism). Thus, dismantling racism is a systemic and systematic intervention designed to illuminate where and how to intervene in a given healthcare system to address proximal and distal factors associated with healthcare disparities. This paper describes the theory behind dismantling racism, the elements of the intervention strategy, and the strengths and limitations of this systems change approach.     

Elders in the justice system: how the system treats elders in trials, during imprisonment, and on death row

As the average lifespan increases, it becomes increasingly likely that elders will be involved in the justice system. Elders may be witnesses, victims, plaintiffs, or defendants in a trial. They are also prisoners and, in some cases, death row inmates. Because there are special needs and costs associated with elders, it is important to consider how they are treated in each of these areas of the justice system. For instance, jurors may have age biases; some prisons are unable to address elders' health problems; and critics have questioned the constitutionality of executing frail elders. In order to determine whether the court system is treating elders fairly, this analysis reviews current policies, research, and anecdotal evidence from recent high-profile cases. Recommendations for future research and policy changes are offered to ensure that elders are treated fairly in the justice system.     

Socially Assigned Gender Nonconformity: A Brief Measure for Use in Surveillance and Investigation of Health Disparities

Discrimination and violence targeting people perceived as gender nonconforming have been linked to a range of negative health outcomes, and large-scale representative data are needed to begin population surveillance of associated health disparities. A brief self-report measure of gender expression as perceived by others was tested using cognitive interviewing methods in a diverse sample of 82 young adults aged 18–30 years, recruited from the New England region in the U.S. Results identified themes related to item clarity, gender expression variation, undesirability of highest or lowest ends of item range, and tension between self and others’ perceptions. The item performed as expected and is recommended for use on studies of health disparities, including statewide and national public health surveillance tools.