Complementing SBIRT for Alcohol Misuse with SBIRT for Trauma: A Feasibility Study

Reducing alcohol misuse is a priority for U.S. health officials considering that misuse of alcohol is a leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Consequently, health centers are integrating Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for alcohol misuse within usual care. Although SBIRT is well validated among general patient samples, results have not generalized to drinkers with probable alcohol use disorder; moreover, little is known about the efficacy of SBIRT with patients who are of low-income or ethnic or racial minority status. Members of these groups are of particular concern because they are at risk to experience trauma, potentially in concert with alcohol misuse. Therefore, translational approaches to delivering SBIRT particularly with these groups of interest might be needed to meet the Grand Challenge of reducing alcohol misuse. Accordingly, this study combined SBIRT with a model designed to address psychological trauma: T-SBIRT. With a sample of 112 adults, most of whom were African American or Latino/a, authors analyzed multiple indicators of feasibility. Results indicated that T-SBIRT is suitable for and acceptable to patients accessing community-based health services, and T-SBIRT can promote high referral acceptance rates to specialty treatment, particularly among patients with probable alcohol use disorder.     

Influence of positive development opportunities on student well-being,depression and suicide risk: the New Zealand Youth Health and Well-being Survey 2012

This study explores the association between neighbourhood opportunities for Positive Youth Development (PYD) and adolescent depressive symptoms, well-being and suicide risk. A 2-stage random sample of 8500 students(years 9–13) from 91 high schools from throughout New Zealand was collected in 2012. Analyses were restricted to neighbourhoods with more than 10 students resulting in a final sample of 5191 adolescents within 266 neighbourhoods. Multilevel models linked data from neighbourhoods to individual student data to explore the association between neighbourhood opportunities for PYD and student depressive symptoms, well-being and suicide risk. Neighbourhoods with a high proportion of students involved in activities that help others, attend church groups, or participate in sports teams were associated with significantly increased well-being among students living in these neighbourhoods. No neighbourhood-level measures were found to significantly alter rates of depressive symptoms or suicide risk. Findings suggest that providing neighbourhood opportunities for PYD may enhance adolescent well-being.     

Urbanization affects the trophic structure of arboreal arthropod communities

Urbanization is one of the most significant causes of habitat fragmentation on the planet, resulting in substantial losses of biodiversity and disruptions to ecological processes. We examined the effects of urbanization on the diversity and abundance of arboreal invertebrates in a dominant tree species (Angophora costata) in a highly urbanized landscape in Sydney, Australia, identifying the potential ecological consequences of shifts in diversity. We hypothesized that trophic structure would be influenced by landscape context with a greater richness and abundance of invertebrates in small remnants and edges. Canopy arthropods were sampled via beating from trees in 15 sites in three landscape contexts; five large patches of continuous vegetation, five edges of large patches and five small urban remnants. Trees in large patches supported fewer individuals compared to trees in small urban remnants and edge sites. The composition of assemblages and overall trophic structure also differed between edges and large patches, with a greater abundance of grazing insects in edges. No differences were detected between small urban remnants and edges, suggesting that observed differences might be attributed to an edge effect as opposed to an area effect per se. These changes in trophic structure, revealing a greater abundance of grazing herbivores and a reduced abundance of predators and parasitoids in edge sites, are consistent with work describing elevated levels of herbivory in edges of remnant vegetation. Future management of remnant urban vegetation and associated biodiversity requires not only an understanding of how trophic status influences the extent of responses by arboreal invertebrate communities, but also how these will affect ecosystem functioning.     

CROSSOVER OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN DUAL-CAREER COUPLES

This study considers the source, nature and direction of ‘crossover’ of occupational stressors and strains in a sample of 74 dual-career couples. It examines patterns and habits of discussion about work between partners and investigates the role of partner communication and job commitment in the crossover process. Contrary to previous research findings which suggest that the direction of crossover is predominantly from men to their female partners, positive relationships were found between women's work stressors and the anxiety and depression reported by their male partners. Only modest evidence of crossover from men to women was found. Work demands were linked to the crossover process for both men and women but, unlike the findings of previous studies, supportive features of the working environment failed to predict crossover between partners. The nature and frequency of marital communication about work was associated with crossover, as was job commitment and satisfaction. The implications of these findings for the psychological health and functioning of dual-career couples are discussed, and recommendations for future research that might further elucidate the crossover process are made.     

Welfare reforms in Canada

This study examines the development of impoverished pre-school children before and after the implementation of mandatory welfare-to-work initiatives in Canada. Using data from the 1994/95 and 1998/99 cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, we explore the relationships that impoverished families’ income source and family income status have with pre-school children's school readiness. Findings indicate that both before and after the implementation of mandatory welfare-to-work initiatives, children in working poor families had higher school readiness scores than their peers whose families receive social assisntance, independent of family environment characteristics that differentiated working poor and social assistance poor families. In addition, both before and after the implementation of mandatory welfare-to-work initiatives, school readiness scores of poor children were lower than scores for non-poor children, with children living in families that had incomes at least 200 percent of the low-income cut-offs being the only group with scores above the expected standard of 100. In sum, our study fails to provide evidence that by the end of the 1990s welfare reforms supported the concurrent policy goal of improving the well-being of Canadian children in poverty.     

Self-perceived occupational stress and distress in a Scottish police force

This paper describes an empirical study (n = 699) of occupational stress in a Scottish police force. The self-perceived stress associated with a variety of organizational and opearational stressors was examined along with the associated distress in the police officers in terms of symptoms of anxiety, somatic complaint, severe depression and social dysfunction. The analysis revealed that in spite of the potential that police work offers for exposure to adverse opeational situations such as violence or death, the highest levels of associated stress lie in relation to organizational factors such as officers' perceptions of staff shortages, inadequate resources, time pressures, lack of communication and work overload. Differential rates of perceived stress are reported accordng to gender, rank and working location. This paper further validates previsous research on stress in British police and addresses the situation from a Scottish perspective.     

Auditory–Visual Context and Memory Retrieval in 3‐Month‐Old Infants

In 3 experiments, 3‐month‐old infants were trained to move an overhead mobile by kicking 1 of their feet in the presence of a distinctive visual (crib bumpers) and auditory (music) context. In Experiment 1A, 5‐day but not 1‐day retention was disrupted if either or both elements of the context present during the retention test were novel. In Experiment 1B, 5‐day retention was observed when only a single component of the training context, visual or auditory, was present. In Experiment 2, the retention test occurred at 14 days but it was preceded 24 hr earlier by a brief reactivation treatment. When the reactivation treatment consisted of reexposing the infant to the training crib bumpers and music, or just to the training music, it was not successful. Reactivation was successful when the reactivation treatment consisted of only the training crib bumpers. These results indicate that, in this paradigm, 3‐month‐old infants do not encode the elements of the context holistically and that, following forgetting, the visual contextual cues become dominant over the auditory contextual cues in facilitating retrieval.     

From Freaks to Savants: disability and hegemony from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) to Sling Blade (1997)

At the turn of the century the Protestant ethic combined with Victorian morality helped turn audiences away from 'Freaks Shows'. This act isolated the performers (who were generally labeled with a physical or mental disability) from not only the rest of society but also from the economy. However, images of people with disabilities did not disappear. The 'mainstream' film industry took over as chief exhibitors stigmatizing characters with disabilities as either violent psychotic offenders or child like savants. However, in 1932, Tod Browning resurrected the 'Freak Show' and made a remarkable film celebrating and starring actual performers from 'Freak Shows'. The film, Freaks , managed to 'normalize' the performers but was a box office and critical disaster. MGM banished the film to the vaults for twenty years, while in England it was banned for over forty. It is blamed for bringing Browning's career to an end and the stars were forced back into isolation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the criticism of Freaks by comparing and contrasting it with images of the more 'successful' mainstream films. Through this analysis I will demonstrate that the criticism for Freaks as it stands is unsupported. I argue what truly offends, shocks audiences and critics alike and the reason for the film's continued 'banishment' is not only the visibility of the actors with disabilities, but also the fact that Browning and his actors found no shame in showcasing their diversity. It is within both the criticism of the film and the mainstream films depicting characters with disabilities where the institutional rejection of diversity is found, not in the images Browning showcased.