Cognitive testing in non‐demented Turkish immigrants ‐ comparison of the RUDAS and the MMSE

Nielsen, T. R. Vogel, A., Gade, A. & Waldemar, G. (2012). Cognitive testing in healthy Turkish immigrants ‐ comparison of the RUDAS and the MMSE. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 455–460. Methods for culturally and linguistically appropriate cognitive testing of elderly minority populations are lacking in Europe. The aim of this study was to compare performance on the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in Turkish immigrants in Denmark and determine the impact of demographic and health‐related variables on test performance. A sample of non‐demented community‐dwelling Turkish immigrants was recruited from the greater Copenhagen area. All participants completed a structured interview regarding demographic, physical and mental health status, as well as measures of depression and acculturation, and cognitive testing with the RUDAS and the MMSE. A total of 76 non‐demented participants aged 50 or more were included in the study. The mean performance on the RUDAS and the MMSE was 26.8 (SD 2.4) and 23.7 (SD 4.3), respectively. In group comparisons, correlation analyses and regression analyses, level of schooling represented a more significant variable for RUDAS and MMSE performance than any other variable. However, the impact of schooling was considerably more pronounced on the MMSE and the test was not found to be a valid measure of general cognitive function in subjects with less than five years of schooling. Although not entirely free of educational bias, the RUDAS can be a valuable supplement to the MMSE for assessment of general cognitive function in Turkish minority populations.     

The role of sociocultural context for culture competence and depressive symptoms among ethnic minority youths in junior high school

The aim of the study was to examine whether school sociocultural context affects culture competence and its relationship to depressive symptoms. As part of the Youth, Culture and Competence study conducted in the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, questionnaire data was collected from 373 immigrant students in two junior high schools within Oslo. The school contexts were represented in terms of proportion of ethnic minority students, 90% versus 60% referred to as the concentrated and balanced context, respectively. Results showed a relatively low level of depressive symptoms and high level of ethnic and host culture competence regardless of context. Ethnic culture competence showed an inverse relationship to depression in both contexts. Host culture competence was also negatively correlated with depression, but only in the balanced context. In the concentrated context this correlation was unsubstantial. Thus, the sociocultural context was found to moderate this correlation.     

Individualism-Collectivism as a Boundary Condition for Effectiveness of Minority Influence in Decision Making

Results of this experiment demonstrate that individualists and collectivists react differently to minority influence. Based on the distinction between objectivity and preference norms in the minority influence literature, we hypothesize that individualism and collectivism influence (A) responses to minority influence (focusing on the target of influence) and (B) effectiveness of minority influence (focusing on the influence agent). Our results replicate past research and demonstrate improved decision quality for individuals exposed to a minority perspective. Moreover, minority influence targets with high horizontal individualism and low horizontal collectivism made higher quality decisions. Influence targets with high vertical collectivism demonstrated higher quality decisions when the influence agent held a high status position in the group. Results also demonstrate that influence agents with high vertical individualism experienced less role stress than those with low vertical individualism. Finally, influence agents with low role stress were more effective in influencing the decision making of others. We discuss our findings in terms of boundary conditions to the minority influence process.     

Minority status stress,racial centrality,and racial socialization as predictors of Black Americans’ preference for counselor race in a United States sample

In the United States, Black Americans’ counseling experiences are associated with concerns that are unique to their racialized status. Understanding the range of cultural factors that influence Black Americans’ preferences in the context of counseling remains an important topic in marketing and providing high-quality counseling services to this population. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of racial centrality, affirming socialization around race, and minority status stress on counselor racial preference among Black college students (N = 139) in the United States. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that racial centrality and minority stress independently predicted preference for a racially similar counselor in this sample of respondents. A significant interaction between minority stress and affirming racial socialization revealed that the effect of minority status stress on counselor racial preference was attenuated at high levels of affirming racial socialization. Findings are discussed in the context of racial identity and racial socialization theories, with emphasis on implications for counseling practice and clinical training.     

双语双文教学促进小学生数学能力发展的研究

采用测量法,考察了我国西南部缺乏汉语环境的少数民族地区,双语双文教学方式对小学生数学能力发展的影响。结果表明,双语双文教学在一定程度上促进了小学生数学能力的发展,这种促进作用主要表现在学生对数学概念的掌握和运用上。小学四年级和五年级阶段这种促进作用明显,但到六年级促进作用减弱。     

文化智力对少数民族预科生主观幸福感的影响:主流文化认同和自尊的链式中介作用

本研究基于文化智力理论与社会认同理论探讨了主流文化认同、自尊在文化智力与主观幸福感关系中的链式中介作用。研究采用文化智力量表、主流文化认同量表、自尊量表和幸福感指数量表对648名少数民族预科生进行调查。结果显示:(1)自尊是文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间的中介变量;(2)主流文化认同是文化智力与少数民族预科生自尊的中介变量,因此,主流文化认同和自尊在文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间起链式中介作用,这表明主流文化认同和自尊是影响文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间关系的重要内因,研究结论对提高少数民族预科生主观幸福感具有重要的价值。     

Multicultural training practices in community psychology programs

Surveyed the directors of 56 community psychology graduate programs to assess multicultural training practices and attitudes. Although most program directors agreed that multicultural training is important in their mission to educate students, less than half the programs (48%) required their students to take any relevant course work and only half of the programs surveyed had any faculty who were members of an ethnic minority group and one third had only one such faculty member. Furthermore, less than half the programs had a combination of training opportunities in place to integrate classroom, research, and field experiences relevant to multicultural issues. Finally, only 23% of program directors believed their training programs were successful for most students, suggesting the need to improve training.     

Some aspects of phonological impairment in aphasia

The relationships between expressive and receptive phonemic disorders and between disturbances of phoneme processing and general disorders of auditory comprehension were studied in 69 aphasic patients, by means of a phoneme discrimination test and of a standard aphasia battery. A significant but incomplete correlation between disorders of phonemic output and of phoneme analysis was found. The view is put forth that in some patients only phoneme encoding or decoding is disturbed, whereas in others a central level of phoneme processing is impaired. A significant but partial correlation was also found between disorders of phonological analysis and general disorders of auditory comprehension. This supports the view that, besides sequential phonological analysis, other processes operate in auditory comprehension.     

Integrating immigrant minorities: developing a scale to measure majority members' attitudes toward their own proactive efforts

The present study is based on the premise that the integration of ethnic minorities may involve more than the majority's expression of tolerance. In order to promote inclusion, the majority may have to play a more active role in the integration process. We describe the development and validation of a new psychometric scale which assesses majority members' attitudes toward their own proactive contribution to the integration of immigrants within three domains: cultural and structural efforts, and openness to diversity. The scale is investigated by analyses of internal structure and exploration of construct validity in relation to relevant social psychological and personality constructs in a sample of 486 Norwegian university students (28% male, mean age = 26.5, SD = 6.08). Factor analyses supported a unidimensional structure and the estimated reliability of an additive scale was satisfactory (Cronbach's α = 0.91). The scale correlated negatively with measures of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, and positively with global identity. It was weakly related to the personality traits agreeableness, intellect, extraversion, and conscientiousness. The potential utility of the scale in both applied and experimental social psychological studies are discussed.     

Counselors' Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence in Same‐Sex Versus Opposite‐Sex Relationships

Domestic violence is often perceived to occur only in heterosexual relationships. However, domestic violence is also prevalent in same‐sex relationships. The majority of the research indicates that counselors perceive same‐sex domestic violence differently than heterosexual domestic violence. This literature review synthesizes the research investigating attitudes toward same‐sex domestic violence. La violencia doméstica se suele percibir como un evento que ocurre solamente en las relaciones heterosexuales. Sin embargo, la violencia doméstica también es prevalente en relaciones del mismo sexo. La mayor parte de las investigaciones indican que los consejeros perciben la violencia doméstica entre personas del mismo sexo de forma diferente a como perciben la violencia doméstica heterosexual. Esta reseña de la literatura sintetiza las investigaciones que tratan sobre las actitudes hacia la violencia doméstica entre personas del mismo sexo.