Cultural adaptation of preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum for Pakistani children

Cultural adaptation of evidence‐based programmes has gained importance primarily owing to its perceived impact on the established effectiveness of a programme. To date, many researchers have proposed different frameworks for systematic adaptation process. This article presents the cultural adaptation of preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum for Pakistani children using the heuristic framework of adaptation (Barrera & Castro, 2006). The study was completed in four steps: information gathering, preliminary adaptation design, preliminary adaptation test and adaptation refinement. Feedbacks on programme content suggested universality of the core programme components. Suggested changes were mostly surface structure: language, presentation of materials, conceptual equivalence of concepts, training needs of implementation staff and frequency of programme delivery. In‐depth analysis was done to acquire cultural equivalence. Pilot testing of the outcome measures showed strong internal consistency. The results were further discussed with reference to similar work undertaken in other cultures.     

Resilience in Families that have Experienced Heart-Related Trauma

The aim of this study was to identify resilience qualities in families in the wake of heart-related trauma of one of their members. The theoretical framework of this study was the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, which represents a paradigmatic shift from a pathological to a strength-based view of a family. Self-report questionnaires and an open-ended question were used to collect data from 22 family members who experienced the heart-related trauma. The results indicate that family time and routines, parent–child togetherness, family chores and affirming communication are key qualities for mediating family adaptation, while inflammatory communication was found to be negatively associated with family adaptation. Other relevant qualities were social support, family hardiness and a coping style where problem situations are reformulated. The identification of these qualities can serve as the focus for intervention and prevention, enhancing the quality of life for families with a cardiovascular patient.     

Do maternal stress and home environment mediate the relation between early income‐to‐need and 54‐months attentional abilities?

Using Ecological Systems Theory and stage sequential modelling procedures for detecting mediation, this study examined how early developmental contexts impact preschoolers' performances on a measure of sustained attention and impulse control. Data from 1273 European‐American and African‐American participants in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were used to identify the potential mediators of the relation between early household income‐to‐need (INR) and 54‐month impulsivity and inattention. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to determine whether the relationships between early income, home environment, parenting stress, and the outcome variables differ for African‐American versus European‐American‐American children. We found modest support for the study hypothesis that 36‐month home environment quality mediated the INR/attention relationship. INR accounted for more home environment score variance and home environment accounted for more Impulsivity score variance for African‐American children. Home environments were related to inattention in the European‐American, but not African‐American, group. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temperamental and environmental risk factors for borderline personality disorder among inner-city substance users in residential treatment

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is widely considered the result of biological vulnerability and environmental adversity. Despite growing evidence for the role of several temperamental and environmental risk factors in the development of BPD, the unique contribution of each to the development of this disorder remains unclear. Furthermore, the extent to which these factors are associated with BPD among underserved and diverse populations is unknown. The current study examined the temperamental and environmental factors uniquely associated with BPD among a sample of 93 inner-city individuals receiving residential substance use treatment. Results indicate that BPD was associated with higher impulsivity and emotional instability/vulnerability, lower well-being, and several interpersonal manifestations of positive and negative temperament (i.e., greater alienation and lower achievement and social closeness). BPD was also associated with several forms of childhood maltreatment, including emotional and physical abuse and neglect. However, only emotional instability or vulnerability, impulsivity, and emotional abuse emerged as unique predictors of BPD status.     

“I WANTED ONE THING AND GOD WANTED ANOTHER . . . ”: The Dilemma of the Prophetic Example and the Qur'anic Injunction on Wife‐Beating

Chapter 4, verse 34 of the Qur'an permits husbands to physically discipline recalcitrant wives. Modern Muslims who find this husbandly privilege discomfiting often rely on Muhammad's prophetic practice to mitigate the meaning of this verse. In light of Muhammad's example of never hitting his own wives, as found in one prophetic report, they reinterpret the verse as restricting and/or voiding a husband's right to physically discipline his wife. This essay provides a critical and expository survey of prophetic reports related to the husbandly privilege to physically discipline wives. The essay argues that the modernists are correct in positing that Muhammad's prophetic practice was to morally censure husbands who hit their wives. However, taken as a whole, it is impossible to ignore that Muhammad's example also unilaterally upheld physical discipline as a husband's marital right.     

Does Neighborhood Social Capital Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Adolescent Behavior Problems?

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives.     

Challenging the opposition of LGBT identities and Muslim cultures: initial research on the experiences of LGBT Muslims in Canada

ABSTRACT

Many have described the cultural and political opposition between LGBT rights and identities and Muslim cultures. Rahman (2014) has argued that one important way to challenge this perceived enmity is to produce further knowledge about the experiences and identities of LGBT Muslims because they exist at the intersections of this political opposition and disrupt the assumptions underlying it. Drawing on Rahman’s framework of Muslim LGBT as “LGBT Intersectional Identities”, we provide initial evidence from on-going research into the experiences of LGBT Muslims in Canada, based on six in-depth qualitative interviews. Focusing on the tensions between living an LGBT life and being Muslim, we demonstrate that there are strategies for reconciling the two that undermine assumptions about the mutual exclusivity of Muslim cultures and homosexualities. These strategies both confirm the extant evidence of identity processes for LGBT Muslims and provide some new evidence of the awareness of negotiating Islamophobia, racialization and Muslim homophobia as part of the development of an LGBT Muslim identity, and the need to understand Muslim identity in a broader frame than simply religious. In this sense, the experiences of LGBT Muslims present an LGBT intersectional challenge, both to western assumptions about the coherence of LGBT identity and the coming out process, and to assumptions in Muslim culture that tend to position individuals who identify as LGBT outside of their traditions.     

Modulation of in vivo oxidative status by exogenous corticosterone and restraint stress in rats

Physical and psychological stressors not only enhance activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, but also cause oxidative damage by inducing an imbalance between the in vivo pro-oxidant and antioxidant status. The involvement of adrenal steroid stress hormones in oxidative damage associated with these stressors has not been extensively investigated. Therefore, this study was designed to probe any direct role of glucocorticoids on induction of oxidative processes by comparing the effects of low, intermediate and high doses of exogenously administered corticosterone, without other applied stressors, on a wide range of key components of the antioxidant defence system. The data presented here indicate a substantial decline in antioxidant defences by actions of corticosterone, evidenced by coordinate decreases in the activities in the brain, liver and heart of free-radical scavenging enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as the non-enzymatic antioxidants glutathione (GSH) and serum urate. Also, lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl contents, oxidative stress markers, were found to be significantly increased in brain, liver and heart. The compromised in vivo antioxidant status was strikingly analogous to the deleterious effects of restraint stress, indicating a direct effect of stress hormones on induction of oxidative damage during physical or psychological stress. A dose-dependent decrease of SOD and CAT, and increase in protein oxidation was observed between the high (40 mg/kg) and low (10 mg/kg) doses of corticosterone. The findings have fundamental implications for oxidative stress as a major pathological mechanism in the maladaptation to chronic stress. Thus, the study suggests that stress hormones have a causal role in impacting oxidative processes induced during the adaptive response. This may hold important implications for pharmacological interventions targeting cellular antioxidants as a promising strategy for protecting against oxidative insults in various psychiatric and non-psychiatric conditions induced by physical or psychological stress.     

Influence of Marriage on Women’s Participation in Medicine: The Case of Doctor Brides of Pakistan

Sex Roles - Despite the difficulties women in Pakistan face in their access to education, their numbers have been increasing consistently in medical colleges. However, most of the women medical...     

The Views of Pakistani Doctors Regarding Genetic Counseling Services – Is there a Future?

Pakistan is a densely populated country in South Asia with a high burden of genetic disease. A dearth of medical genetic services exists and master’s level trained genetic counselors (GCs) are currently not a part of the healthcare system. This study is the first to determine the views of Pakistani medical doctors (MDs) towards genetic counseling services in Pakistan, including what manner a master’s level genetic counselor might be incorporated into the healthcare system. Fifty-one MDs practicing in the city of Karachi completed a self-administered survey of twenty questions. Of the 49 respondents who answered a specific question, 100 % (49/49) felt that they would refer at least some, if not all, of their relevant patients to a genetic’s clinic if one existed in Karachi. Overall, the respondents showed a positive attitude towards the provision of genetic counseling services as a part of the healthcare system of Pakistan. Some of the proposed roles identified specifically for GCs included: explaining how Down syndrome occurs (66.1 %), discussing genes associated with breast cancer (77.4 %), and explaining the inheritance pattern of β-thalassemia (65.5 %). In contrast, the review of medical and family history and discussion of medical procedures such as ultrasound and amniocentesis were typically seen as the role of a physician. A majority of the respondents (98 %) were in favor of premarital carrier screening for thalassemia and would refer patients to a GC to describe the importance of carrier screening (84.3 %) and to help explain carrier screening results (94.1 %). Many respondents selected GCs as the ideal provider of education and support for people with inherited conditions (43.8 %), followed by specialist MDs (26 %) and general physicians (22.9 %). Considering the high burden of genetic disease in the country, we encourage the development of genetic counseling services in Pakistan.