Psychosocial correlates of health status among Asians, Caucasians, and multiracial subjects

The present study assessed the relationship between race and physical health in a multicultural sample. When controlling for a variety of health risk factors, the results revealed a significant relationship between race and recent and chronic physical symptoms (i.e., minor health problems) as well as past major health problems. Multiracial individuals reported more health problems than Asians or Caucasians. These findings may reflect the differences in diet and socioeconomic status (SES) as well as conditions associated with low SES such as decreased likelihood of seeking medical services and a variety of psychosocial variables.     

How lexical is the lexicon? Evidence for integrated auditory memory representations

Previous research has shown that lexical representations must include not only linguistic information (what word was said), but also indexical information (how it was said, and by whom). The present work demonstrates that even this expansion is not sufficient. Seemingly irrelevant information, such as an unattended background sound, is retained in memory and can facilitate subsequent speech perception. We presented participants with spoken words paired with environmental sounds (e.g., a phone ringing), and had them make an “animate/inanimate” decision for each word. Later performance identifying filtered versions of the words was impaired to a similar degree if the voice changed or if the environmental sound changed. Moreover, when quite dissimilar words were used at exposure and test, we observed the same result when we reversed the roles of the words and the environmental sounds. The experiments also demonstrated limits to these effects, with no benefit from repetition. Theoretically, our results support two alternative possibilities: (1) Lexical representations are memory representations, and are not walled off from those for other sounds. Indexical effects reflect simply one type of co-occurrence that is incorporated into such representations. (2) The existing literature on indexical effects does not actually bear on lexical representations – voice changes, like environmental sounds heard with a word, produce implicit memory effects that are not tied to the lexicon. We discuss the evidence and implications of these two theoretical alternatives.     

Orthogonal factors of mental ability? A response to Hampshire et al.

We respond to the main points raised by Hampshire et al. (2014). First, we note that the simulation study of Hampshire et al. (2012) was based on the assumption that individual differences in the capacities of the three proposed brain networks are mutually independent. However, this orthogonality cannot be assumed even if those networks are anatomically and functionally distinct. We also consider further the implications of our finding that a blended variable or task-mixing model of the structure of mental ability would require nearly every mental ability task to load on nearly every factor of mental ability. We explain that such a result is implausible and favors more parsimonious models that include a g factor.     

Quality of Life and Adjustment in Youths with Asthma: The Contributions of Family Rituals and the Family Environment

This cross‐sectional study explored the relationships among family ritual meaning, cohesion, conflict, and health‐related quality of life (both specific to chronic health conditions and in general), and the emotional and behavioral problems reported by youths with asthma. Participants included 149 Portuguese children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18 who had been diagnosed with asthma and attended outpatient services at three public hospitals. The results showed that stronger family ritual meaning predicted a more positive family environment (i.e., higher cohesion levels and lower conflict levels), better health‐related quality of life, and fewer emotional and behavior problems in youths. Furthermore, family cohesion and conflict mediated the links between family ritual meaning and health‐related quality of life, and emotional and behavioral problems. These results did not change after controlling for participant age, gender, and asthma severity. The findings of this study suggest that family ritual meaning contributes to the adaptation of youths with asthma via its positive association with the family environment. The implications for multicontextual interventions with families are briefly discussed with regard to the positive role of family rituals and of their potential as a modifiable factor in families with increased health challenges.     

Comparing the Housing Trajectories of Different Classes Within a Diverse Homeless Population

The paper presents findings from a longitudinal study identifying different classes of homeless individuals in a mid‐size Canadian city based on health‐related characteristics and comparing the housing trajectories of these classes 2 years later. Using data collected through in‐person interviews with a sample of 329 single persons who have experienced homelessness, the paper presents results of a latent class analysis. Results found four distinct latent classes characterized by different levels of severity of health problems—i.e., a class of individuals who are “Higher Functioning” (28.7%), a second class with “Substance Abuse Problems” (27.1%), a third class with “Mental Health Substance Abuse Problems” (22.6%), and a fourth class with “Complex Physical and Mental Health Problems” (21.6%) that included having diminished physical functioning, multiple chronic physical health conditions, mental health difficulties, and in some cases substance abuse problems. Follow‐up interviews with 197 of these individuals (59.9%) 2 years later showed the class of individuals with substance abuse problems experiencing the greatest difficulty in exiting homelessness and achieving housing stability. Implications of these findings for social policy development and program planning are discussed.     

Hmong Mental Health Needs Assessment: A Community-Based Partnership in a Small Mid-Western Community

The overall goal of this assessment was to verify the mental health needs of Hmong living in a mid-west community in order clarify the format, content, and feasibility of providing mental health services for Hmong in the future. Using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) model, we held four focus groups with 36 men, women, adolescents and professionals, all of Hmong descent, as well as interviewed 28 individual medical, mental health, education, and social service providers in the Eau Claire community. Our Hmong sample was frequently unclear about what “mental” health meant, indicating a low level of mental health literacy. Results confirmed that there are significant mental health needs in this refugee and immigrant population. Participants described problems consistent with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, and severe social stress and acculturation difficulties in every generation. Elder people and male adolescents were described as the most disaffected and in need of immediate services. It will be critical to address mental health literacy before designing future interventions. Treatment suggestions were provided with the intention of removing barriers and incorporating culturally sensitive methodologies, while continuing to work closely with our local mental health providers and Hmong leadership.     

Likening stairs in buildings to climbing a mountain: Self-reports of expected effects on stair climbing and objective measures of effectiveness

Objectives

Health promotion agencies advocate use of mountain climbing goals to encourage regular stair climbing, a current public health target. This paper tests effects of a mountain climbing campaign on objective measures of stair use for the first time.

Design

Field interview and quasi-experimental, interrupted time-series study.

Method

In field interviews, a convenience sample (n = 1350) responded to questions about different goals, i.e., heights of climb, to encourage stair use in buildings. Subsequently, a point-of-choice intervention with the main message ‘Take the stairs to the top of this building once a day and in a year, you would have climbed Mount Everest almost twice’ was tested in a 12-floor worksite. A no-message baseline was followed by installation of the intervention.

Results

Stair ascent (n = 62,716) and descent (n = 61,218) at the ground floor was measured with automated counters at baseline (11 days) and during the intervention (18 days). The majority of interviewees (60%) chose a message based on climbing Mt. Everest as the most motivating, with only 5% of interviewees not motivated by any climbing goal. Nonetheless, the subsequent intervention using the mountain climbing goal had no effect on stair climbing (OR = 0.96). As the campaign specifically targeted stair ascent, it failed to influence the behaviour with the greater public health dividend.

Conclusion

The discrepancy between pre-testing and the campaign may reflect the fact that performance goals can only be achieved at the end of the task and may not be continually rewarded during accumulation of behaviour towards the goal.     

Living,resisting, and playing the part of athlete: Narrative tensions in elite sport

ObjectivesTo explore: (i) How elite and professional sport culture might steer individuals towards particular stories, identities, and actions; (ii) How athletes navigate or respond to these cultural pressures.DesignCross-sectional qualitative methodology.MethodNarrative interviews and focus groups with 21 elite and professional athletes followed by a narrative analysis of structure and form.ResultsAthletes demonstrated one of three processes. Individuals who live the part of athlete story their life and act in ways that conform to a culturally dominant performance narrative. Here, identity is foreclosed, relationships sacrificed in the pursuit of success, and long-term wellbeing threatened. Over time, alternative narrative types may provoke moral reflection on their story and actions. Individuals who resist the part of athlete sustain a life story and identity that deviates from the performance narrative, drawing on alternative narrative types. Their resistance is typically overt as they publicly demonstrate actions that align with their multidimensional story. Individuals who play the part of athlete modify their story and actions depending on sociocultural context. These individuals covertly maintain a multidimensional life story, but silence this story when powerful others require performance stories.ConclusionsAlthough some elite/professional athletes' life stories revolve around performance outcomes, this is not a prerequisite for excellence. Other athletes achieve excellence while sustaining a multidimensional life story and identity. To do so, they navigate a culture that expects a performance focus, through overt resistance or covertly manipulating their public stories and actions.     

The use of self-talk during elite cricket batting performance

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate the use of self-talk during cricket batting performance through an innovative approach that allowed for within performance responses to be examined.Design and methodFive elite cricketers were interviewed alongside edited video footage of their batting innings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather in-depth information and explanations about the participants' use of self-talk during each critical incident.Results and conclusionsThe findings of this study highlighted the use of instructional and motivational self-talk as a fluctuating continual narrative that enhanced skill execution, self-efficacy and focus of attention, whilst reducing performance anxiety. In particular, the athletes described the effectiveness of self-determined self-talk on their performance. Specifically, they advocated self-talk that narrowed their attentional focus and redirected their thoughts to performance-related cues during periods of declining performance.