Clinical Utility of Expanded Carrier Screening: Reproductive Behaviors of At-Risk Couples

Expanded carrier screening (ECS) analyzes dozens or hundreds of recessive genes to determine reproductive risk. Data on the clinical utility of screening conditions beyond professional guidelines are scarce. Individuals underwent ECS for up to 110 genes. Five-hundred thirty-seven at-risk couples (ARC), those in which both partners carry the same recessive disease, were invited to participate in a retrospective IRB-approved survey of their reproductive decision making after receiving ECS results. Sixty-four eligible ARC completed the survey. Of 45 respondents screened preconceptionally, 62% (n = 28) planned IVF with PGD or prenatal diagnosis (PNDx) in future pregnancies. Twenty-nine percent (n = 13) were not planning to alter reproductive decisions. The remaining 9% (n = 4) of responses were unclear. Of 19 pregnant respondents, 42% (n = 8) elected PNDx, 11% (n = 2) planned amniocentesis but miscarried, and 47% (n = 9) considered the condition insufficiently severe to warrant invasive testing. Of the 8 pregnancies that underwent PNDx, 5 were unaffected and 3 were affected. Two of 3 affected pregnancies were terminated. Disease severity was found to have significant association (p = 0.000145) with changes in decision making, whereas guideline status of diseases, controlled for severity, was not (p = 0.284). Most ARC altered reproductive planning, demonstrating the clinical utility of ECS. Severity of conditions factored into decision making.     

A Preliminary Study of Activation,Stress, and Self-Management of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities are high users of services, yet very little is known about how parents of these children interact with the health care system. Further, compared to parents of children with other developmental disabilities, parents of children with ASD experience more stress and dissatisfaction with services. Current efforts for improving services point to a need for understanding caregivers’ perceptions of their own health-care related beliefs and actions. Activation is a construct that measures the belief, knowledge, action, and persistence of managing one’s health care needs. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the activation of parents of children with ASD using an adapted parent activation measure (PAM) for children with developmental disabilities called the PAM-DD. Data were collected from parents who received treatment as usual from a community-based outpatient treatment planning service for children with ASD. PAM-DD scores were compared with parent ratings of stress, self-management, and service satisfaction. Results indicated that increased activation correlated positively with parent report of satisfaction and ability to self-manage child issues such as eating, sleeping, and behavior and correlated negatively with parenting stress. The study of activation shows promise as a feature of quality of care for parents of children with developmental disabilities.     

Sociality and intergenerational transfer of older adults’ nostalgia

Interest in nostalgia has blossomed, yet its nature in older adulthood and potential for intergenerational transfer to younger adults has remained neglected. In Experiment 1, we focused on the content of older adults’ nostalgic (vs. ordinary) recollections and asked whether older adults’ nostalgia could be transferred to younger adults. We showed that nostalgia expressed in older adults’ narratives was positively associated with nostalgia reported by young-adult readers. In Experiment 2, undergraduates read a nostalgic or ordinary narrative written by an older adult. Then they rated their own nostalgia as well as their perceived social connectedness, self-continuity, and meaning in life. Exposure to older adults’ nostalgic (vs. ordinary) narratives promoted concurrent nostalgia among young adults, along with associated psychological benefits (social connectedness, self-continuity, meaning). The findings illustrate the potential for intergenerational transfer of nostalgia through written narratives, and attest to the universality of nostalgic themes across younger and older adults.     

Work support,psychological well-being and safety performance among nurses in Hong Kong

This study investigated the mediating role of psychological well-being between work support and safety performance of 314 Hong Kong nurses, using self-reported questionnaires. Results showed that psychological well-being mediated the effects of work support on safety performance. The findings illustrate that work support was an important element to improve psychological well-being. This could generate better safety performance of the nurses. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

“Hold Me Tight”: The Generalizability of an Attachment-Based Group Intervention to Chinese Canadian Couples

“Hold Me Tight” (HMT) groups are an adaptation of emotionally focused therapy (EFT) for couples and have emerged out of 30 years of research into the efficacy and process of EFT. The goal of this study was to test the effects of a Chinese-language version of the HMT relationship enrichment program in a sample of Chinese Canadians. Twenty-three men and 23 women (N = 46) in committed couple relationships completed an HMT relationship education program with their partners in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Results indicated statistically significant improvements in participants' satisfaction with their attachment relationships, in their attachment security, and in their family functioning. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of relevant cross-cultural literature on attachment and couple relationships.     

Getting in People’s Faces: On the Symbiotic Relationship between the Media and Police Gang Units

The current study explores the relationships among high-profile homicide incidents, media representations of gang homicides, and the establishment of specialized police task forces in British Columbia, Canada. The sample includes all articles on homicide published between 2004 and 2010 in a major daily newspaper (N = 2,873). We examine the attention given to gang-related homicides compared to other homicides, explore the impact of high-profile shootings on trends in reporting, and discuss the timing of media reports in relation to the creation of specialized police forces. Results are discussed with respect to the symbiotic relationship between police organizations and the media.     

Does test-enhanced learning transfer for triple associates?

Test-enhanced learning and transfer for triple-associate word stimuli was assessed in three experiments. In each experiment, training and final-test trials involved the presentation of two words per triple associate (triplet), with the third word having to be retrieved. In agreement with the prior literature on different stimuli, training through testing with feedback yielded markedly better final-test performance than did restudy. However, in contrast to the positive transfer reported for paired associate stimuli, minimal or no positive transfer was observed, relative to a restudy control, from a trained cue combination (e.g., A, B, ?) to other cue combinations from the same triplet that required a different response (e.g., B, C, ?). That result also held when two unique cue combinations per triplet were tested during training, and for triplets with low and high average associative strengths. Supplementary analyses provided insight into the overall transfer effect: An incorrect response during training appears to yield positive transfer relative to restudy, whereas a correct response appears to yield no, or even negative, transfer. Cross-experiment analyses indicated that test-enhanced learning is not diminished when two or three cue combinations are presented during training. Thus, even though learning through testing is highly specific, testing on all possible stimulus–response combinations remains the most efficient strategy for the learning of triple associates.     

Individual,Housing, and Neighborhood Predictors of Psychological Integration Among Vulnerably Housed and Homeless Individuals

The current longitudinal study evaluated the individual, housing, and neighborhood characteristics predictive of feeling psychologically integrated within one's neighborhood among a population of homeless and vulnerably housed individuals. Participants were recruited at homeless shelters, meal programs, and rooming houses in Ottawa, Canada and participated in three in‐person interviews, each approximately 1 year apart. Prospective and cross‐sectional predictors of psychological integration at Follow‐up 1 and Follow‐up 2 were examined. There were 397 participants at baseline, 341 at Follow‐up 1 and 320 at Follow‐up 2. A hierarchical multiple regression uncovered several significant predictors of psychological integration. The most salient and common predictors were being older, having greater social support, living in high quality housing, and residing in a neighborhood with a positive impact. Implications for service provision and policy advancements are discussed.