Ethical Ambiguities in Participatory Action Research With Unauthorized Migrants

There is increased recognition of the importance of well-designed scholarship on how immigration status and policies impact migrants in the United States, including those who are unauthorized. Some researchers have looked to community-based and participatory methods to develop trust, place migrants’ voices at the forefront, and engage collaboratively in using research as a tool for social change. This article reviews three ethical ambiguities that emerged in the process of a series of participatory action research (PAR) projects with migrants in the United States, many of whom were unauthorized. Specifically, three themes are discussed: (a) the tension between the human desire to respond to injustices, and the challenges of doing so in ways that recognize one’s privilege and power as an outsider and supports the migrants’ agency and autonomy; (b) the complex definition, explanation, and dimensions of “risk”; and (c) the complexity of using a methodology (PAR) that prioritizes participants’ collective identity and community in the context of regulations that are designed primarily to protect individuals.     

Sleep and Attachment in Preterm Infants

Infants born preterm are at elevated risk for socioemotional difficulties; however, factors contributing to this risk are largely understudied. Within the present study, we explored infant sleep as a biosocial factor that may play a role in infant socioemotional development. Within a prospective longitudinal design, we examined parent‐reported sleep patterns and observed parenting quality as predictors of infant–mother attachment in 171 infants born preterm. Using structural equation modeling, we examined main effect and moderator models linking infant sleep patterns and parenting with attachment security. Sleep patterns characterized by more daytime sleep and positive/responsive parenting predicted infant attachment security. Parent‐reported nighttime sleep patterns were unrelated to attachment in this sample of infants born preterm. These results indicate that daytime sleep and parenting quality may be important for emerging attachment relationships in infants born preterm.     

An Analysis of Thoughts,Behaviours, and Emotions in Daily Decision-Making

Cognitive theory and naturalistic decision-making models were utilized to examine the relationship between thoughts, behaviours, and emotions in daily decision-making. An experimental survey using vignettes examined the effects of investment of cognitive and behavioural effort in hypothetical vignettes on emotional responses to uncertain negative outcomes. For each vignette, this negative outcome was either surprising or distressing. Further, the type of uncertainty was an alteration, inclusion, or cancellation pertaining to the original vignette, yielding six conditions in the within-groups design. Participants (N = 335, 220 females) responded to each vignette by choosing a behavioural effort option (low or high), following which they elaborated the reason for their choice (high or low cognitive effort). They also responded to the predetermined negative outcome on an affective scale (emotional response). Results showed that (a) emotional responses to vignettes varied, based on the type of uncertainty in the scenario; (b) surprising outcomes elicited higher emotional distress; (c) behavioural effort positively predicted emotional distress when the type of uncertainty was alteration or inclusion; and (d) strategies involving high cognitive effort predicted investment of high behavioural effort in the vignette. Implications of examining behavioural, cognitive, and emotional processes leading to daily decisions are discussed in the context of coping with uncertainty.