Anxiety and Adjustment Levels Among the Visually and Hearing Impaired and Their Relationship to Locus of Control,Cognitive, Social,and Biographical Variables

Forty-five hearing-impaired and 40 visually impaired male residential school children aged 6 to 16 years were administered measures of adjustment, anxiety, and locus of control (LOC). Scores related to intelligence and academic level, teacher and peer acceptance, and biographical variables were also obtained. The findings show that the correlates of anxiety and adjustment differed qualitatively as well as quantitatively between the groups.     

Loneliness: Lost in the Landscape of Meaning

The present study is an examination of sex differences in the sources of annoyance that partners in close relationships might experience as a result of each other's behavior. To test hypotheses derived from S. E. Cross and L. Madson's (1997) self-construal theory and from D. M. Buss's (1989) evolutionary psychology-based model, men and women of varying ages and educational levels were asked to rate how annoyed they would be with each of 13 potentially annoying behaviors of their intimate partner. Results were consistent with self-construal theory in that relationship-threatening behaviors were more annoying to women than to men and autonomy threatening behaviors were more annoying to men than to women. Results were also consistent with evolutionary psychology in that aggressive behaviors were more annoying to women than to men and sexual withholding was relatively more annoying to men than to women. Sex differences in annoyance with relationship-threatening, autonomy-threatening, and reproductive strategy behaviors were independent of age and education level, although these factors did affect respondents' annoyance when partners were unemotional, sloppy, or pleased with their own appearance. Results showed that sources of annoyance in intimate relationships should not only be studied from an evolutionary perspective but from the perspectives of social, personality, and developmental psychology as well.     

Religions in the modern world: Traditions and transformations

The global trafficking in women and children (primarily girls) for prostitution and sex work has become a multi-billion dollar industry in recent decades, especially in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Despite their common goal to eliminate or diminish the sex trafficking industry and assist the victims, the various entities engaged in anti-sex trafficking efforts have sharply disagreed about a variety of issues, including a basic definition of sex trafficking and the appropriate strategies for combating it. In this article, I examine one central area of disagreement, which revolves around the issue of the morality of prostitution and other forms of commercial sex work. This issue brings with it divergent, even antithetical, views regarding women's gender roles, self-identity and moral agency in relation to sex work. I show how the religious dimensions of this issue have been inadequately attended to by demonstrating how anti-trafficking discourse is devoid of non-Western religious perspectives. Since Thailand has been the centre for sex trafficking and the commercial sex industry in the Asia-Pacific region, where the greatest percentage of sex trafficking takes place, this article will discuss Thai Buddhist perspectives to illustrate how the anti-sex trafficking discourse has ignored cultural differences in its analysis.     

Care of the Patient Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery

SUMMARY

Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has proven to be an effective intervention for the patient with gender dysphoria. As with any surgery, the quality of care provided before, during, and after SRS has a significant impact on patient outcomes. This article is intended to help primary care providers who are already familiar with routine transgender care to understand the specialized processes involved in SRS. Topics include guidelines for the recommendation of SRS, feminizing and masculinizing surgical procedures, suggested timelines for various interventions, expected course and recovery, risks and complications, and revisional surgery that may be required.     

Evolution of Gonadal Axis After Sex Reassignment Surgery in Transsexual Patients in the Spanish Public Health System

ABSTRACT

Although the effects of hormone therapy on cardiovascular risk factors and bone metabolism have been studied, data are lacking on the gonadotropin profile after gonadectomy in the sex reassignment process (SRP). Accordingly, whether measurement of the gonadotropin profile is useful in order to adjust the postsurgical dose of gonadal hormones is unknown. We studied the evolution of LH, FSH, prolactin, testosterone, and estradiol in 50 transsexual persons, 41 male-to-female transsexuals (MtF) and 9 female-to-male transsexuals (FtM), following a proto-colized regimen of hormone therapy for 12–24 months before and after genitoplasty. The increase in gonadotropins after surgery was greater in the FtM than in the MtF (66% vs. 50%), with the increase continuing more than one year after surgery. No variable was significantly associated with this different level of gonadotropins.     

EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

Transsexualism implies that an anatomically normal individual feels that he or she is actually a member of the opposite sex. Treatment usually includes real-life experience along with hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. Voice modification surgery may be necessary, as pass ability in general is still in a large extent dependent on the aspects of voice in transsexual people. Often male-to-female patients report being addressed in telephone conversations as their genetic gender, which is experienced as a disability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of voice on the quality of life in transsexuals.

In order to detect the disability caused by a voice disorder, the validated assessment method the Voice Handicap Inventory (VHI) was used. An additional question about the way patients were addressed in a telephone conversation was added.

As part of a study describing general health in transsexual persons, done at the Ghent University Hospital Belgium, a total of 48 patients were evaluated. In female-to-male transsexuals the median scores were very low, suggesting testosterone treatment led to an acceptable voice alteration. A higher serum LH level was significantly correlated with higher total, functional and emotional VHI scores. In male-to-female transsexuals the scores were significantly higher than those of the female-to-male transsexuals, but still there was no indication of a real disability/handicap. The extra telephone question was scored higher suggesting male-to-female transsexuals did experience a disability caused by their voice. From this study it is concluded that the VHI values did not demonstrate a handicapping effect.     

Assessing the Relationship Between Cold Pressor Pain Responses and Dimensions of the Anxiety Sensitivity Profile in Healthy Men and Women

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been shown previously to be an important factor in the perception and experience of experimentally induced pain within healthy adults. The aim of the current study was to extend this research by: (i) using the Anxiety Sensitivity Profile (ASP) as an alternative measure of AS; (ii) examining whether different coping instructions affect pain reports; and (iii) investigating potential differences between men and women. Participants were 50 healthy adults (23 males, 27 females) who were required to complete 2 versions of the cold pressor pain task; one version required the use of control instructions, whereas the other made use of acceptance‐based instructions. Although the coping instructions were found to affect pain thresholds (acceptance resulted in lower thresholds), a similar pattern of correlations were found between the pain indexes and AS under both conditions. Of the ASP subscales, the gastrointestinal and cognitive concerns components were found to be the most strongly related to pain experiences. When the analysis was conducted separately for each sex, the ASP scales were related to the self‐report measures of pain in women, whereas they were related to the behavioural measures of pain in men. These results not only confirm that AS is associated with experimental pain, but that there may be sex differences in this relationship.     

Exploring the personal and social context of female youth sex offenders

This study explored the personal and social context of young female sex offenders, probing their risk profiles for prospective treatment interventions. A convenience sample of eight young South African female sexual offenders participated in the study (black = 88%, Indian = 12%, age range = 14–20 years). They completed semi-structured interviews on their perceptions of the influences to commit a sexual offence. The data were thematically analysed. Emergent themes on factors associated with sexual offending included: peer influence, poor child monitoring, parental neglect, unproductive sexual health education, as well as insight into the participants’ maladaptive beliefs and distorted thinking.     

Pathways in the offending process of sex offenders who target marginalised victims

Prior literature shows that although marginalised populations are at a high risk of severe violence and homicide, research has focused on their offenders as if they constituted a homogeneous group. On the basis of a sample of 213 sex offenders who targeted marginalised individuals (i.e., sex trade worker, homeless individual, and severe drug user), we investigate the different pathways that these offenders take both prior to and during the commission of their crimes. Results of 2‐step cluster analysis regarding the offender's development, criminal history, crime context, and modus operandi revealed 3 distinct pathways of the offending process. The coercive pathway was characterised by the amount of violence used against the victim. The explosive pathway was defined by offenders who were in a state of rage at the time of the offence. Finally, offenders in the situational pathway committed their crimes out of opportunity and used very little violence. Differences between pathways were investigated with regard to characteristics of the index offence.