Young Rural Males in South Africa Speak on Teenage Pregnancy: “It's Really Her Problem”

The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of school-going rural males in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on teenage pregnancy. Two methods of data collection were used, namely, a quantitative survey with a sample of 294 male youth from 10 schools. This was followed by focus group interviews with three groups, each comprising ten males, from three of the schools. Quantitative data examined self reported knowledge, behaviours, beliefs and attitudes of participants relating to teenage pregnancy. Qualitative data from the focus groups generated both an individual and ‘group think and provided insights into the relational construction of these beliefs and behaviours. Although the analysis revealed some mixed reactions, the majority response pointed to ‘dominant male-submissive female’ views of sexual relationships. Most participants supported the notion that the burden of pregnancy fell on the female, with males frequently denying paternity and criticizing females for careless sexual behaviour. Attributions for teenage pregnancy by boys are important for intervention to curtail impact on survivor girls.     

Seeing,mirroring, desiring: The impact of the analyst’s pregnant body on the patient’s body image

The paper explores the impact of the analyst’s pregnant body on the course of two analyses, a young man, and a young woman, specifically focusing on how each patient’s visual perception and affective experience of being with the analyst’s pregnant body affected their own body image and subjective experience of their body. The pre‐verbal or ‘subsymbolic’ material evoked in the analyses contributed to a greater understanding of the patients’ developmental experiences in infancy and adolescence, which had resulted in both carrying a profoundly distorted body image into adulthood. The analyst’s pregnancy offered a therapeutic window in which a shift in the patient’s body image could be initiated. Clinical material is presented in detail with reference to the psychoanalytic literature on the pregnant analyst, and that of the development of the body image, particularly focusing on the role of visual communication and the face. The author proposes a theory of psychic change, drawing on Bucci’s multiple code theory, in which the patients’ unconscious or ‘subsymbolic’ awareness of her pregnancy, which were manifest in their bodily responses, feeling states and dreams, as well as in the analyst s countertransference, could gradually be verbalized and understood within the transference. Thus visual perception, or ‘external seeing’, could gradually become ‘internal seeing’, or insight into unconscious phantasies, leading to a shift in the patients internal object world towards a less persecutory state and more realistic appraisal of their body image.     

Differential Risk Perceptions for Unintended Pregnancy,STDs, and HIV/AIDS Among Urban Adolescents: Some Preliminary Findings

Two pilot studies tested the hypothesis that adolescents perceive differential risks for unintended pregnancy (UP), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The 1st study used a college sample consisting of 14 adolescents (21 years or younger) and 64 adults (over 21) who rated the likelihood that they and others would experience 15 health problems. The 2nd study used a community sample of 48 adolescents between 16 and 21 years of age who rated 11 health problems in a similar manner. Optimistic bias and uniqueness of risk in adolescents' perceived susceptibility to adverse sexual outcomes were examined. Optimistic bias is the difference between ratings of risk to self and risk to others, reflecting lower risk to self. Uniqueness of risk is the difference between ratings of risk and a baseline risk estimate (i.e., the mean rating for all non-sex-related health problems). Consistent with the hypothesis, adolescents perceived differential risks for UP, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. Implications for adolescent prevention programs are discussed.     

Dimensions of Success and Motivation Needs Among Managers

In this study, we examined the relationship between needs for achievement (n Ach) and power (n Pwr) and the importance of six dimensions of life success among a sample of 454 managerial women and men in southeastern Florida. Results showed that n Ach was significantly correlated with all four work-related success dimensions: status/wealth, personal fulfillment, and professional fulfillment (positively), and with security (negatively). N Ach was not correlated with either of the two nonwork-related success dimensions of family relationship and social contribution. N Pwr was significantly correlated with all the same work-related success dimensions except professional fulfillment; it was also correlated significantly with the non work-related dimension of social contribution but not with family relationships.     

Sleep in Women: A Review

Sleep complaints are common in women, and women are more likely to suffer from insomnia than men. Multiple factors across a woman's lifespan, including hormonal changes, age‐related physiological changes, psychosocial factors, the presence of sleep disorders, and physical and mental health conditions, can contribute to complaints of poor sleep in women. This article reviews the literature on the characteristics of, and contributing factors to, subjectively and objectively measured sleep during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and post‐partum period, as well as the menopausal transition and postmenopause. Evidence from both subjective and objective measurements supports the presence of chronic sleep fragmentation associated with pregnancy, acute sleep deprivation during labour and the immediate post‐partum periods, as well as disrupted sleep during the first few months after childbirth. While there is evidence for menstrual cycle and menopause related sleep disturbance based on women's self report, findings from objectively measured sleep have been mixed. Observational and intervention studies on the relationship between sleep and women's psychological well‐being suggest that underlying causes of sleep disturbance across a woman's lifespan are often multi‐factorial. Comprehensive assessments and targeted interventions are needed in managing sleep problems in women. Cognitive behavioural interventions have been shown to reduce sleep complaints during the perinatal and menopausal periods, and improvements in sleep are likely to lead to improvements in women's overall well‐being.     

Tired,moody and pregnant? Exercise may be the answer

Negative psychological states such as depression, fatigue and anxiety are experienced by many women during pregnancy. This study examined whether engaging in an exercise programme during pregnancy is associated with improvements in psychological well-being among previously inactive women (n?=?56, M age?=?30.34, SD?=?4.57; M weeks pregnant?=?22.58, SD?=?5.32). Participants completed the Profile of Mood States–Short Form and State Trait Anxiety Scale-Trait version at baseline and after four weeks of exercise. Exercise was assessed using accelerometers and these data were used to determine bouts of 30-min of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Factorial repeated measures ANOVAs demonstrated that participants who met Canadian guidelines for exercise during pregnancy at week four (n?=?17) experienced significant decreases in depression (p?=?.004, η²?=?.13), anger (p?=?.03, η²?=?.08), tension (p?=?.03, η²?=?.08), fatigue (p?=?.01, η²?=?.10), trait anxiety (p?=?.01, η²?=?.12) and increases in vigour (p?=?.001, η²?=?.19) compared to those who were not meeting guidelines (n?=?39). From a psychological health perspective, these findings highlight the importance of continuing to promote exercise during pregnancy.     

Hypoactive Sexual Desire in Heterosexual Women:

The problem of hypoactive sexual desire is the most common sexual problem that heterosexual couples and individuals present to sex therapists. Often it is a woman who reports that she has the problem, or her male partner brings her to therapy believing she has hypoactive desire. The treatment literature describes a variety of causes that contribute to the disorders of sexual desire. However, most of the literature looks primarily at the causes within an individual's history of within a couple's relationship. There does not seem to be adequate consideration given to the social and cultural limitations that have defined and prescribed a sexual role for women that is primarily oriented to the service of male needs rather than female sexual pleasure. This article will analyze some of the social and cultural forces that limit female sexual expression, and are a neglected factor when causes for low sexual desire in heterosexual women are given.     

对妊娠晚期畸形胎儿实施致死性引产的可行性分析

在妊娠晚期发现胎儿畸形,许多胎儿父母要求引产。一些患儿父母因为在医院引产出活体畸形婴儿而与医院产生纠纷。本文考虑采用医疗方法在引产前或引产中使胎儿心跳停止,确保引产出的胎儿为死婴（即致死性引产）以减少纠纷,利于社会。本文试图从医疗、伦理、法律的角度,探讨在胎儿父母要求下,对妊娠晚期畸形胎儿实施致死性引产的可行性。     

宫腔镜取胚术联合丁卡因胶浆终止早早孕临床研究

探讨宫腔镜取胚术联合丁卡因胶浆终止早早孕技术的临床价值。比较宫腔镜组及人工流产术两组患者并发症的发生情况。结果宫腔镜组比人工流产术并发症低,安全性高。因此,宫腔镜取胚术联合丁卡因胶浆是一种安全、有效、微创的终止早早孕技术。