When Sharing a Laugh Means Sharing More: Testing the Role of Shared Laughter on Short-Term Interpersonal Consequences

Laughter is a common social behavior. Yet when, why, and how laughter may cause positive relationship change is largely unexamined, empirically. The current studies focus on shared laughter (i.e., when), drawing from theory in relationship science to emphasize the importance of conceptualizing laughter as situated within the dyadic context (i.e., why). Specifically, these studies target untested possible short-term outcomes from social interactions involving shared laughter: positive emotions, negative emotions, and perceived similarity. In turn, each are tested as possible mechanisms through which shared laughter promotes more global relationship well-being (i.e., how). A series of online and laboratory studies provide correlational and causal support for the hypothesis that shared laughter promotes relationship well-being, with increased perceptions of similarity most consistently driving this effect. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering the behavior of laughter itself, as situated within the social context, when making predictions about laughter’s relevance for social life.     

The case for implementing the levels of prevention model: Opiate abuse on American college campuses

Opiate abuse in the United States is on the rise among the college student population. This public health crisis requires immediate action from professionals and stakeholders who are committed to addressing the needs of prospective, current, and recovering opiate users using comprehensive prevention methods. Such approaches have been used to deliver primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention to alcohol and other drug users but are underutilized in the case of opiate abuse among college students in the United States. There is a definite need for involving college campus faculty, staff, students, and others in efforts to prevent opiate abuse at all levels. Our recommendations include specific strategies to address this imminent issue using an innovative application of the traditional Levels of Prevention Model.     

The Joiners: Active Voluntary Association Membership in Twenty African Countries

To what extent do sub-Saharan Africans actively participate in voluntary groups, and how does development aid influence this involvement? This paper presents a baseline assessment of membership predictors for secular and religious voluntary groups across 20 sub-Saharan African countries. Using Afrobarometer survey data, I adopt an asset-based resources approach in which development aid is seen to mobilize local resources and increase incentives to join voluntary groups. The theory is tested with multilevel, cross-national logistic regression models, including both individual-level and country-level variables to predict active membership. At the individual level, I find that membership in voluntary groups is most likely among those who are well educated, rural-dwelling, male, black, and middle aged—a reflection of social advantage. However, poorer Africans are also likely to join such groups, as are those with a strong religious affinity. At the national level, development aid is positively tied to voluntary group membership, but democratic and economic progresses have little to no consequence on this behavior.     

Putting Words to the Experience: An Italian Group Intervention for Children of Separated Parents

This article presents an Italian group intervention for children of separated parents and describes preliminary findings about its efficacy. After briefly discussing the state of art for interventions of children of separated parents, the core characteristics of the group intervention are explained and each meeting is described. Then, pre–post research is presented to provide empirical support for this approach. Results reported that participation in the group strengthens the social and interpersonal self-concept dimension in the majority of children. Results are discussed considering both empirical and clinical implications.     

The politics of counting and reporting conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence: the case of Myanmar

ABSTRACT

Scholars, states and international organizations have begun to systematically count, document and compare sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in conflict-affected countries. Qualitative and quantitative studies point to a “tip of the iceberg” phenomenon, where there is a high prevalence but low level of actual reporting of SGBV. We investigate the conditions in which SGBV is reported or, more significantly, is not reported to discover the trends of reporting in politically oppressive environments where SGBV is thought to be occurring. We ask how the power to report in local conflict-affected areas is affected by national political tensions and pervasive gender discrimination. Reporting of SGBV in Myanmar, a country that has experienced multiple, protracted conflicts since independence, is examined. Analysis of open-access reports over a fifteen-year period reveals a pattern of silence that we argue is rooted in pervasive discriminatory civil and physical practices against women. Engaging with the deeply politicized and gender discriminatory context of conflict-affected societies enables us to see the anomalies of SGBV data and to highlight significant gaps in our knowledge about SGBV.     

How does paid work affect who does the childcare? An analysis of the time use of Australian couples

This paper analyzes the effect of paid work by coupled parents of young children on the joint decisions to spend time engaged in childcare. We explore this using Australian Time-Use Survey data from 2006. We examine the effect of paid work in terms of the effect that total work time on a given day has on the amount of time spent on childcare; the allocation of time on activities across work and non-work days; and the effect of non-traditional work hours. The results show that mothers perform a large share of childcare, irrespective of their earning power or their partner’s availability to take on some of these tasks. The use of formal and informal childcare by others allows the mother to balance the competing demands of work and her own childcare; an effect that does not hold for fathers. These effects on childcare are also almost solely concentrated in the routine component of childcare (e.g. preparing meals, changing nappies), with each parent ‘protecting’ interactive childcare from the effect of both paid work and the relative availability of their partner to take on some of this childcare.     

Compassion-Focused Therapy as an Intervention for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse can have long-term negative impacts across psychological, physical, and interpersonal domains. Some of the common issues for survivors of sexual abuse include shame and self-blame, attachment-based difficulties, avoidant coping strategies, and reduced capacity for self-compassion. Compassion-focused therapy is a transdiagnostic intervention that specifically responds to these concerns. Compassion-focused therapy was originally developed for clients who experience high levels of shame and self-criticism and aims to strengthen the soothing and affiliative system through the cultivation of compassion. This article will highlight the theoretical alignment between some of the common issues and impacts associated with experiences of sexual abuse, with the core underlying principles of compassion-focused therapy. This includes (a) the capacity of the therapy’s evolutionary framework to reduce perceptions of self-blame, (b) the cultivation of compassion to respond to feelings of shame, (c) acknowledgment of the role of early attachment experiences and facilitation of corrective affiliative experiences, (d) regulation of the threat-based system following trauma, and (e) provision of an alternative to avoidant-based coping by responding to distress with compassion. It is proposed that the theoretical framework and core focus and aims of compassion-focused therapy are highly applicable for survivors of sexual abuse and therefore holds significant promise as a treatment option for this client group.     

Gauging the interests of birth mother and child: a qualitative study of Swedish social workers’ experiences of transnational gestational surrogacy

There are few studies on how social workers deal with cases regarding transnational surrogacy. Our study intends to contribute to filling this gap. In Sweden, surrogacy as an assisted reproductive technology method is not permitted. As a result, many prospective parents have turned abroad, mainly to India, for surrogacy. There are no laws regulating surrogacy in Sweden, and difficulties have arisen in establishing legal parenthood when the parents return with the child. This qualitative interview study with social workers found that legal uncertainty and ethical issues surrounded their handling. With no guidelines, the constructions of parenthood will continue to depend on individual social workers’ conflicting views on how to best meet the surrogate mother’s interest and the best interest of the child. Regulation is thus needed to better protect those involved and minimize the contingent aspects of legal handling by individual officials.