The Transgenerational Consequences of Discrimination on African‐American Health Outcomes

Disparities in African American health remain pervasive and persist ransgenerationally. There is a growing consensus that both structural and interpersonal racial discrimination are key mechanisms affecting African American health. The Biopsychosocial Model of Racism as a Stressor posits that the persistent stress of experiencing discrimination take a physical toll on the health of African Americans and is ultimately manifested in the onset of illness. However, the degree to which the health consequences of racism and discrimination can be passed down from one generation to the next is an important avenue of exploration. In this review, we discuss and link literature across disciplines demonstrating the harmful impact of racism on African American physical health and the health of their offspring.     

Learning Skinner’s Verbal Operants: Comparing an Online Stimulus Equivalence Procedure to an Assigned Reading

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of an online stimulus equivalence procedure to that of an assigned reading when learning Skinner’s taxonomy of verbal behavior. Twenty-six graduate students participated via an online learning management system. One group was exposed to an online stimulus equivalence procedure (equivalence group) that was designed to teach relations among the names, antecedents, consequences, and examples of each elementary verbal operant. A comparison group (reading group) read a chapter from a popular textbook. Tests for the emergence of selection-based and topography-based intraverbal responses were then conducted, as were tests for generalization and maintenance. Overall, results suggest that the online equivalence procedure was not significantly more effective in promoting topography-based responses than the assigned reading. However, performance on selection-based tests was enhanced by the online equivalence procedure as was performance on topography-based tests when participants were required to provide operant names in response to consequences or examples. On average, the equivalence group performed at a level that was 10 percentage points (i.e., a full letter grade) above that of the reading group. The viability of the equivalence-based procedure is discussed in relation to the assigned reading.     

Shifting Contexts and Shifting Identities: Campus Race-Related Experiences,Racial Identity,and Academic Motivation Among Black Students During the Transition to College

This study examined Black college students’ (N = 309, 70% women) racial identity beliefs over their freshman year. Using latent class cluster analysis, we identified clusters reflecting patterns of change and stability in students’ racial centrality (importance of race to overall self-concept), private regard (group pride), and public regard (perceptions of others’ views of Blacks). Racial identity change clusters were distinguished by campus experiences (racial discrimination, interracial friendships, and campus racial climate). Racial identity change clusters predicted end-of-year academic motivation (competence, affect, interest/curiosity, and persistence). Findings suggest the importance of examining critical transitions in identity development and highlight the deleterious effects of stigmatizing campus experiences on identity. Findings also highlight ways students’ racial identity beliefs may help promote academic motivation.     

Gender disparities in adult health: an examination of three measures of morbidity

Recent examinations of gender differences in physical health suggest that women's disadvantage may be smaller than previously assumed, varying by health status measure and age. Using data from the 1997-2001 National Health Interview Surveys, we examine gender-by-age differences in life-threatening medical conditions, functional limitations, and self-rated health and consider whether potential mediating mechanisms (e.g., socioeconomic status, behavioral factors) operate uniformly across health measures. The results show that the gender gap is smallest for life-threatening medical conditions and that men do increasingly worse with age. For self-rated health, men are more likely to report excellent health at younger ages, but with increasing age this gap closes. Only for functional limitations do we find a consistent pattern of female disadvantage: Women report more functional limitations than men, and the gap increases with age. The ability of explanatory mechanisms to account for these patterns varies by the health measure examined.     

Social Networks and Support,Gender, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Among Older Adults

Using data from the 2001 NHIS and the 2005–2006 and 2007–2008 NHANES, we examine how self-reporting a previous diagnosis of hypertension among adults aged 65+ differs by race/ethnicity for men and women; we explore the extent to which disparities are driven by group differences in social risk factors, particularly social support and integration; and last, whether these relationships mimic patterns seen for measured hypertension at interview. Findings indicate that rates of ever-diagnosed hypertension in both samples are highest among black seniors and older women and lowest among Mexican-American men, with the gender gap lowest among whites and substantially higher among blacks and Mexican-Americans. However, replication analyses of NHANES models using measured hypertension, instead of a self-report of having ever been diagnosed with hypertension, suggests that reporting bias and measurement error contribute to observed disparities, as racial/ethnic differences in hypertension rates are smaller when measured hypertension is examined, especially among women. Logistic regression models also show that while adjusting for group differences in measures of support and integration mediates some of the disparity in measured hypertension between Mexican-American and white seniors, adjusting for support and integration amplifies black-white disparities in both ever diagnosed and measured hypertension—driven primarily by adjustment for attendance at religious services, which reduces hypertension risk for all older adults but is more commonly reported among black seniors, especially women.     

Making midwifery work visible: The multiple purposes of documentation

Background

Midwives have a professional, ethical and legal obligation to effectively and thoroughly document the care provided to women and the decisions made within the partnership relationship. To appreciate the best approach to documenting midwifery care, it is important to first understand the purpose of midwifery documentation.

Silent privatisation of customary land in Zambia: opportunities for a few,challenges for many

The conversion of customary land into leasehold tenure has sparked intense debates in Zambia and beyond. Growing interest in land in the last decade and half has led to a spike in demand for land across Africa, especially land adjacent to major cities, towns and developed infrastructure. This growing demand for land is gradually being directed at customary land, which well-resourced urban and local elites, as well as foreign investors, are converting from customary to private tenure, raising serious questions about the future of customary land in Africa. This paper discusses the emerging dynamics around customary land conversion drawing from a case study conducted in Chongwe and Chibombo districts in Zambia. Evidence gathered in this study suggest that while the conversion of customary land to leasehold tenure is generating opportunities for the urban elite, a few traditional leaders and international investors, it is, at the same time, creating serious challenges for the majority of the people in the local communities.     

Women’s mental health during pregnancy: A participatory qualitative study

Background/objectives

British public health and academic policy and guidance promotes service user involvement in health care and research, however collaborative research remains underrepresented in literature relating to pregnant women’s mental health. The aim of this participatory research was to explore mothers’ and professionals’ perspectives on the factors that influence pregnant women’s mental health.

Age Changes in Prosocial Responding and Moral Reasoning in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Age changes' measures of prosocial responding and reasoning were examined. Participants' reports of helping, empathy‐related responding, and prosocial moral reasoning were obtained in adolescence (from age 15–16 years) and into adulthood (to age 25–26 years). Perspective taking and approval/interpersonal oriented/stereotypic prosocial moral reasoning increased from adolescence into adulthood, whereas personal distress declined. Helping declined and then increased (a cubic trend). Prosocial moral judgment composite scores (and self‐reflective empathic reasoning) generally increased from late adolescence into the early 20s (age 17–18 to 21–22) but either leveled off or declined slightly thereafter (i.e., showed linear and cubic trends); rudimentary needs‐oriented reasoning showed the reverse pattern of change. The increase in self‐reflective empathic moral reasoning was for females only. Thus, perspective taking and some aspects of prosocial moral reasoning—capacities with a strong sociocognitive basis—showed the clearest increases with age, whereas simple prosocial proclivities (i.e., helping, sympathy) did not increase with age.