Effects of support groups on post traumatic stress responses in women experiencing stillbirth

This research study explores the effects of support groups on traumatic stress responses of women experiencing stillbirth. Women (N = 47) responded to a mixed method questionnaire. Quantitative results utilizing the Impact of Event Scale Revised demonstrate that women who attend support group, when controlling for time, had fewer post traumatic stress symptoms than did the women who did not attend support group. Qualitative results elucidate the role of support groups in managing grief, suggesting that connectivity with other like women may be a useful strategy in reducing problematic psychological outcomes.     

A Review of Current Ambulatory Assessment Studies in Adolescent Samples and Practical Recommendations

The use of ambulatory assessment (AA) and related methods (experience sampling, ecological momentary assessment) has greatly increased within the field of adolescent psychology. In this guide, we describe important practices for conducting AA studies in adolescent samples. To better understand how researchers have been implementing AA study designs, we present a review of 23 AA studies that were conducted in adolescent samples from 2017. Results suggest that there is heterogeneity in how AA studies in youth are conducted and reported. Based on these insights, we provide recommendations with regard to participant recruitment, sampling scheme, item selection, power analysis, and software choice. Further, we provide a checklist for reporting on AA studies in adolescent samples that can be used as a guideline for future studies.     

Beliefs About Gambling Problems and Recovery: Results from a General Population Telephone Survey

Respondents were asked their beliefs about gambling abuse as part of a general population telephone survey. The random digit dialing survey consisted of 8,467 interviews of adults, 18 years and older, from Ontario, Canada (45% male; mean age = 46.2). The predominant conception of gambling abuse was that of an addiction, similar to drug addiction. More than half of respondents reported that treatment was necessary and almost three-quarters of respondents felt that problem gamblers would have to give up gambling completely in order to overcome their gambling problem. Problem gamblers (past or current) were less likely than non- or social gamblers to believe that treatment was needed, and current problem gamblers were least likely to believe that abstinence was required, as compared to all other respondents. Strong agreement with conceptions of gambling abuse as disease or addiction were positively associated with belief that treatment is needed, while strong agreement with conceptions of disease or wrongdoing were positively associated with belief that abstinence is required.     

Successful aging: choosing wisdom over despair

This article defines wisdom and despair as choices for cognitively intact older adults. Some individuals are able to integrate the conditions of old age while others respond in ways that inhibit effective integration. The conscious aging theory, as well as Erikson's developmental theory regarding achievement of integrity/wisdom, provides a theoretical basis for exploration of this topic. Constructs of personality, including self-concept, self-acceptance, destiny control, interiority, rigidity, and flexibility, are described. Finally, guidelines for nurses working with older adults who are facing this developmental stage of life are provided.     

Deconstructing Development Theory: Feminism,the Public/Private Dichotomy and the Mexican Maquiladoras*

L'analyse postmoderne, la plus récente des nombreuses façons d'aborder le développement international, permet de mieux comprendre les tendances occidentalisantes de la théorie sur le développement ainsi que les dichotomies moderne/traditionnel et progressiste/retrograde qu'elles favorisent. Elle ne parvient cependant pas à mettre en evidence les dichotomies révélatrices de l'inégalité des sexes - homme/femme, public/privé et productif/non productif -, celles qui font partie intégrante de la pensée sur le développement. Le but de cette étude théorique n'est pas de faire le bilan des répercussions du développement dans la vie des femmes du tiers monde mais bel et bien de procéder, dans l'optique feministe, à une analyse deconstructiviste postmoderne de la théorie dominante du développement et à 1'examen d'un exemple pratique, celui des maquiladoras mexicains. Par le biais d'une deconstruction feministe, la théorie du développement trahit un discours foncierement phallocentrique qui cherche à imposer de facon systematique une interpretation occidentale du role de la femme dans les societes dites sous-developpees, avec pour consequence la devalorisation de son apport dans les domaines public et prive. As the newest of many varied approaches to the topic of international development, the postmodern approach offers valuable insights into the Westernizing project of development theory, not least of which is its insight into the dichotomies of modern/traditional and progressive/backward. What the postmodern approach fails to do adequately, however, is uncover the specifically gendered dichotomies also resident in development thought, including male/ female, public/private, and productive/non-productive. The purpose of this primarily theoretical essay is not to enumerate Third World women's experiences with development, but rather to apply the postmodern tool of deconstruction from a feminist perspective, first to mainstream development theory, and subsequently to a practical example of development, the Mexican maquiladora project. Through a feminist deconstruction, development theory is shown to be a fundamentally gendered-phallocentric-discourse that systematically applies Western notions of gender to “underdeveloped” societies and cultures, thereby undervaluing women's essential contributions to both public and private spheres.     

The Financial Management of Catastrophic Flood Risks in Emerging-Economy Countries

This article examines the potential of pre- and post-disaster instruments for funding disaster response and recovery and for creating incentives for flood loss mitigation in countries with emerging or transition economies. As a concrete case, we discuss the disaster recovery arrangements following the 1997 flood disaster in Poland. We examine the advantages and limitations of hedging instruments, which are instruments for transferring the risk to investors either through insurance or capital market-based securities. We compare these mechanisms with financing instruments whereby the government sets aside funds prior to a disaster or taps its own funding sources after the event occurs. We show how hedging instruments can be designed to create incentives for the mitigation of damage to public infrastructure using the flood proofing of a water-treatment plant on the hypothetical Topping River as an illustrative example. We conclude that hedging instruments can be an attractive alternative to financing instruments that have been traditionally used in the poorer, emerging-economy countries to fund disaster recovery. Since very poor countries are likely to have difficulty paying the price of protection prior to a disaster, we suggest that international lending institutions consider innovations for subsidizing these payments.     

Assessment and management of hospitalized suicidal patients

Suicide in inpatient psychiatric settings is a critical problem. A comprehensive literature review was performed to determine risk factors for inpatient suicide, instruments for assessing suicide, and treatment of hospitalized suicidal patients. Findings suggested that root causes of inpatient suicide were factors related to the treatment environment, failure to assess patient behavioral characteristics, and staff reliance on no-suicide contracts. Recommendations include assessing suicide risk regularly throughout hospitalization, including on admission, during changes in a patient's mental or physical status, after a change in observation level, and before discharge. Orientation and inservice education for all staff and additional research on the psychometric properties of available suicide assessment instruments are also essential.