Behavioral Activation and Inhibition, Negative Affect, and Gambling Severity in a Sample of Young Adult College Students

The prevalence of pathological gambling among college students is increasing. Few studies have directly examined the relation between reward processing and gambling severity while concurrently examining the effects of co-occurring negative affect in this at risk population. This study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques to analyze results from an online survey of 352 female and 96 male students age 18-25. Participants completed measures of past year gambling behavior and severity of gambling problems using the Canadian Problem Gambling Index and the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Negative affect and reward processing were measured by the 21-item version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales and the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales, respectively. Thirty-five percent of participants reported gambling in the previous 12 months, and 11% had gambling severity scores indicative of "moderate-risk" or "problem gambling." Gambling severity was associated with negative affect. Negative affect, in turn, was correlated with the unitary BIS scale and inversely associated with the BAS reward responsiveness scale. Reward responsiveness was also inversely associated with gambling severity. In the SEM models, the association between reward responsiveness and gambling severity was mediated by negative affect among males but not among females. Potential explanations for these findings and their implications for addressing problem gambling are discussed.     

Death anxiety in adolescents: the contributions of bereavement and religiosity

Possible relationships between bereavement and religiosity to death anxiety levels of adolescents were investigated. Scales measuring religiosity, bereavement, and death anxiety were incorporated into one questionnaire. Two hundred and twenty-six adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18 participated in the study based in urban and rural private schools within Manitoba. Females exhibited significantly higher death anxiety levels than did males; differences between the death anxiety levels of adolescents having a no-previous-death-experience death and those who had experienced a familial death were not significant; while religiosity levels were significantly higher for students attending religion-based schools, the relationships between measurements of religiosity and death anxiety were weak. Grief due to bereavement was the major factor in determining death anxiety for the adolescent.     

Recreation and agroforestry: Examining new dimensions of multifunctionality in family farms

Multifunctionality serves as an analytical framework to recognize many services that farms provide to their surrounding communities and society. This study explores an often overlooked dimension of multifunctionality by examining different recreational services provided by landowners in Missouri and analyzing the relationship between recreational multifunctionality and the practice of agroforestry. The latter provides multiple economic, environmental and beautification benefits that involve trees in the landscape. Results show that family farms provide several recreational services for their household members and others, and the existence of synergies between the recreational function of the farmland and agroforestry practices, consistent with the transition to strong multifunctionality. The recreational use of the land is positively associated to the cognitive (i.e., perceived knowledge) and affective (i.e., willingness to adopt) attitudes towards agroforestry. Results also show that the higher the perception of intrinsic (i.e., planting trees for wind protection and carbon sequestration) and economic (i.e., perceived economic benefits and flood protection) values of agroforestry, the more recreational use of the land. This study exemplifies the interactions between two little examined farmland functions providing insights for a comprehensive value assessment of family farms. Other academic and practical implications of the study are also detailed.     

The population,agriculture, and environment nexus in Latin America: country-level evidence from the latter half of the twentieth century

Unprecedented population growth and migration accompanied equally unprecedented land use and land cover change in Latin America during the latter decades of the twentieth century. Country-level data are examined with bivariate statistics to determine relationships between changes in population patterns and land use (agriculture and forest cover) from 1961 to 2001. In South America, large forest areas were eliminated during the period, while exceptionally high rates of forest clearing were ubiquitous in the Central America/Caribbean region. These environmental changes accompanied dissimilar initial population densities and different effects of population change on agriculture. While interacting with a host of political, socio-economic, and geographic processes, it appears that both Malthusian and Boserupian demographic processes were important drivers of deforestation. Given continued, though slowing, population growth, increased urban consumption, and future land use constraints, policy makers face myriad challenges in advancing sustainable agriculture-population dynamics in Latin America.     

Characteristics of precollege sexual violence victimization and associations with sexual violence revictimization during college

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence and characteristics of precollege sexual victimization (SV) experiences and associations with revictimization and recent substance use behaviors among a sample of college students who reported precollege SV. Participants: A sub-sample of 931 college students who reported precollege SV at baseline data collection for an ongoing multi-site clinical trial. Methods: Data were collected via electronic surveys between September 2015 and March 2017. Measures included precollege and during college SV, recent substance use, and alcohol-related harm reduction behaviors. Results: Precollege SV characteristics associated with revictimization included: Nonpenile penetration (aOR: 1.51, 95%CI: 1.04–2.19); pressured sex (aOR: 1.46, 95%CI: 1.06–2.01); and stranger assault (aOR: 2.03, 95%CI: 1.22–3.40). Past 30-day binge drinking was also associated with revictimization (aOR: 1.86, 95%CI: 1.36–2.54). Conclusions: The relationship between precollege SV and alcohol, especially binge drinking, may require a more integrated approach to preventing subsequent revictimization.     

Factorial Validity and Invariance of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Among Portuguese Youngsters

The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability, factorial validity and measurement invariance (across gender, age and physical activity participation) of a Portuguese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). The sample consisted of 1,763 Portuguese youngsters (731 male and 1,032 female) with ages between 15 and 20 years. Reliability estimate for the one-factor solution was .845, although some proposed RSES’s underlying dimensions were lower than .70. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the best-fitting model was a single self-esteem factor, plus simultaneous correlated uniqueness for positively and negatively worded items. Multigroup analysis supported measurement invariance across age and physical activity participation, and partial metric invariance across gender, as three items failed to show metric equivalence. These results provide evidence that RSES has excellent psychometric properties and it is a valid self-esteem measure to be used among Portuguese youngsters.     

Nonprofit Product Placement: Human Rights Advocacy in Film and Television

As non-governmental organizations attempt to gain influence, membership, and funds in an increasingly crowded field, they are turning to popular culture as a way to spread both their brand and their message. This article examines Amnesty International USA’s use of what has traditionally been a corporate advertising technique: product placement in popular film and television. It argues that NGOs engage in product placement as a form of strategic communication with three interrelated goals: brand management, issue advocacy, and social norms marketing. This overlap creates theoretical outcomes and ethical considerations which, while not unique to second-order forms of communication, have not yet been explored with relation to human rights advocacy. This article first defines and gives examples of such product placement and concludes with a discussion of ethics considerations for advocacy organizations contemplating using this strategy.     

Constraints and opportunities for civic and political participation: perceptions of young people from immigrant and non-immigrant background in Portugal

Youth civic and political participation (CPP) has been a central concern of research and public policy. This situation has been motivated by growing signs of the disaffection of younger generations, at least regarding conventional forms of participation. Recent theoretical debates stress how forms of CPP are evolving; nevertheless it is obviously important to integrate young people's views in the discussion, particularly taking into account groups at risk of exclusion, such as immigrants. This paper intends to contribute to this discussion by considering the meanings that young people attribute to their civic and political experiences, using data collected with focus groups (N = 94) that address the factors that facilitate and/or inhibit the participation of young people from immigrant (Brazilian and Angolan) and non-immigrant (Portuguese) backgrounds. Data will be analysed according to three main dimensions: (1) participants' sources of knowledge, information and influence; (2) participants' views on civic and political engagement: relevance, resources, personal experiences, trustworthiness and efficacy; and (3) participants' perceptions of excluded groups and proposals to promote inclusion. Results show that the experiences and levels of participation of young people of Brazilian and Angolan origin are influenced by their immigrant background. In addition, they indicate a strong tendency of young people to emphasise constraints over opportunities. They feel like incomplete or in-the-making citizens, and state their claim for rights and opportunities to be heard and to be civic and politically engaged.