Associations of social relationships with consultation for symptoms of depression: a community study of depression in older men and women in Québec

To assess associations between social relationships and consultation for symptoms of depression, data from a representative sample of 2,811 French-speaking community-dwelling older adults in Québec were used. Less than half of the older adults meeting DSM criteria for depression (N = 379; 47.1%) had sought consultation about their depression-relevant symptoms in the preceding 12 months. Having a cohabitant partner or having children were not associated with frequency of consultation for women. Men without a partner tended to consult more frequently than men with a cohabiting partner (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 0.81, 7.88). None of the men without a confidant had consulted. Among the 67 men with a confidant, consultation was more frequent among those not cohabiting with a partner (70%) than among those with a cohabiting partner (46%). The influence of social relationships on consultation for depression differed in men and women in this population of depressed elderly people in Québec.     

Sport and children’s spirituality: an Australian perspective

The benefits of sport and physical activity are endorsed by a number of professionals as a means of improving children’s health and their sense of well-being, and their unity with the natural world, other people and the Transcendent. For children, sport is a spiritual source of joy and wonder. Using Champagne’s ‘spiritual modes of being’, my recent study of Victorian children demonstrated their heightened sensory awareness, enriched relationships and robust sense of personal identity, arising from active and passive participation in sport. The children in the study seemed to benefit in each of these areas from Australian culture’s high value of sporting participation and achievement.     

Holistic Healing in Acts 3:1‐10

The understanding of healing focuses on Acts 3:1‐10, where the rereading of this text with its picture of healing will lead to an understanding of inclusive healing, in the sense that the marginalized people are included in this healing. This means that the healing is holistic, rather than focusing on either physical or spiritual healing only. The research on which this paper is based sought to explore the issue of holistic healing for a transformative church. The paper brings into perspective the following questions: What is entailed in Jesus’ healing people with disabilities? And how can the issue of healing be opened to the possibility of building a community of love, justice, peace, and diversity? In an attempt to answer the preceding questions, this paper has two parts: in the first section, I focus on my personal rereading in view of my own disability experience and my experience with the participants of Bible study, whereby I use narrative interpretation of existing literature, and I interpret from a psycho‐spiritual perspective framed by a liberation theology of disability. In the second section, I engage a dialogue between biblical scholars and ordinary people on the different perspectives on healing. My overall objective in this paper is to offer a new biblical understanding on the text and, on the other hand, a theological reflection on healing to assist church leaders and Christians to understand that people with disabilities, like any human being, deserve to be in fellowship with God and with other people for the sake of social transformation.     

Family Research Study at Eagleville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center

The Eagleville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center Family Study Program is described, presenting an overview of the Family Research Study and the problem areas inherent in coordinating research with a new treatment program; an analysis of the sample of drug abusers, their families, and their course in family treatment is discussed. The Community School Program is included as a demonstration of the potential for effective primary prevention. Areas of promise for future development are reviewed as they provide direction for further clinical and research work with the family and drug abuse.     

Automatic and controlled processes in the first- and second-language reading of fluent bilinguals

Many fluent bilinguals read their two languages with equal levels of comprehension but read their second language at a slower rate. The present study examined whether, compared with first language reading, slower second-language reading is associated with reduced involvement of automatic processing during lexical access. Subjects were bilinguals with fluent speaking and listening skills under ordinary conditions of communication and with equivalent comprehension of their first and second languages when reading and listening under speeded conditions. Half these subjects, however, read their first and second languages equally fast, and half read the second language more slowly than the first. Subjects were tested on a lexical decision task that manipulated expectations about the semantic relatedness of prime and target words and the stimulus onset asynchrony between them. Bilinguals with equal first- and second-language reading rates produced in each language a pattern of reaction times suggesting automatic processing, whereas bilinguals with a slower second-language reading rate did so in their first language but not in their second.     

Cross-sex best friendship influences on early adolescent cigarette and alcohol expectancies and use

In this study, the author investigates the influences of cross-sex best friends in early adolescence in regard to cigarettes and alcohol. Specific goals include determining the prevalence of cross-sex best friendships, investigating expectancies and perceived approval of the use of cigarettes and alcohol, and examining substance use levels. A group of urban sixth, seventh, and eighth graders completed a survey that addressed these issues. Results indicate the presence of cross-sex best friendships in the sample. Significant findings on cross-sex best friends' influence include positive expectancies for alcohol in sixth (p = .006) grade, the perception of seventh graders that the best friend's attitudes about smoking (p = .003) and drinking (p = .001) are less negative, and higher levels of cigarette use in sixth (p = .001) and eighth (p = .024) grade and alcohol use in sixth (p = .008), seventh (p = .002), and eighth grades (p = .039).     

The Impact of a Pre-Vocational Program on Cognition,Symptoms, and Work Re-Integration in Schizophrenia

This study measured the effects of a pre-vocational program on cognition, symptoms, and integration to work in schizophrenia. Twelve participants, receiving pharmacological treatment only, were compared to 14 participants, who were part of a pre-vocational program and who received pharmacological treatment on pre and post measures. The work skills training group was offered by an occupational therapist. Results showed statistically significant differences in negative and general symptoms, visual attention, learning, and integration to work when comparing the two groups in favor of the program. These results provide evidence of the positive effects of occupational therapy interventions in mental health.     

DNA Testing for Family Reunification in Canada: Points to Consider

Countries have adopted different laws, policies, and practices that allow immigration officers to request in certain cases DNA tests to confirm biological relationships in the context of family reunification. In Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has adopted a policy of suggesting DNA testing only as a last resort in cases where no documentary evidence has been submitted or where the evidence provided is deemed unsatisfactory. However, in practice, there have been concerns on the increasing use of DNA tests in family reunification processes of nationals from certain regions including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Moreover, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) presents a biological definition of family as a determinant of parenthood in the context of family reunification that is inconsistent with the psychosocial definition used in provincial family laws. Although there are cases that can justify the request for DNA tests, there are also significant social, legal, and ethical issues, including discrimination and unfair practices, raised by this increasing use of genetic information in immigration. This policy brief identifies points to consider for policymakers regarding the use of DNA testing in Canadian family reunification procedures. These include (1) the need to refine the policy of “using DNA testing as a last resort” and its implementation, (2) the need to modify the definition of “dependent child” under the IRPR to reflect the intrinsic reality of psychosocial family ties, and (3) the importance of conducting more research on the use of DNA testing in other immigration contexts.     

Mission to Persons with Disabilities

The human ego pushes some people to think that a wall of separation should be built, with the rich and the poor in their camps and the weak and the strong living separately. People with disabilities are victims of this separation, often considered as being apart, labelled as “the others.” However, the love of God pushes us to consider the others, whatever their differentiation, as the image of God created to live in relation with other humans. Thus, the mission to people with disabilities is a transformative love that releases actions of justice. This article frames the text of 1 Samuel 9, 1‐11, in Missiology Studies and Contextual Bible Studies from a disability perspective. It also re‐reads the text according to an African context, more precisely the Democratic Republic of Congo. The paper uses the “see, judge and act” approach: the author’s experience as a scholar and a woman living with disability will aid critical analysis, leading to recommendations.