Help-Seeking for Sexual Difficulties and the Potential Role of Interactive Digital Interventions: Findings From the Third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles

Sexual difficulties are common and can negatively impact health and well-being. A wide range of support is available, but there are multiple barriers to accessing help. Interactive digital interventions (IDIs) for sexual difficulties have the potential to provide a convenient, wide-reaching, and cost-effective source of support, but little is known about who might use them. We explored the potential reach of IDIs by assessing the prevalence of help-seeking among people with distressing sexual difficulties, including who seeks which sources of help. Data came from sexually active men and women, ages 16 to 74, participating in Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) (N = 11,637). Help/advice was sought by less than half of those with distressing sexual difficulties, and help-seeking was associated with younger age in women but not men. The most popular sources of support were family doctor (47.5% to 54.8%), Internet (22.0% to 25.6%), and family/friend (20.7% to 41.8%), with older participants (≥ 35), particularly men, preferring to seek help from a family doctor, and younger participants (<35) preferring to seek help from the Internet or family/friend. Despite a paucity of good digital support sites for sexual function, the Internet is a common source of help. As Internet access continues to increase, so too does the potential for well-designed IDIs to support those with sexual difficulties.     

A Note on Logistic Regression and Odds Ratios

Abstract

Observed seat belt use on a private university campus was compared with use by the general population of the state in which the university is located. It was expected, given the higher educational level and socioeconomic status of the university population, that seat belt use would be higher than it is for the general population. The results of the study indicated that seat belt use by members of the university community was actually significantly lower than that reported statewide. The statistically significant difference was even greater for front-seat passengers than for drivers on campus.     

Forcible,Drug-Facilitated,and Incapacitated Rape and Sexual Assault Among Undergraduate Women

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence of drug-related sexual assaults, identify the frequency of assaults that occur following voluntary versus involuntary drug or alcohol consumption, and identify contextual correlates of drug-related assaults. Participants: College-student females (n = 314). Methods: Volunteers reported experiences with forcible and drug-related sexual assaults in the spring semester of 2004. Follow-up queries regarding the most severe drug-related assaults determined whether the assaults followed voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug consumption. Results: 29.6% (n = 93) of the respondents reported a drug-related sexual assault or rape; 5.4% (n = 17) reported a forcible sexual assault or rape. Voluntary incapacitation preceded 84.6% of drug-related assaults and involuntary incapacitation preceded 15.4% of drug-related assaults. The majority of drug-related assaults (96.1%) involved alcohol consumption prior to assault. Conclusions: Drug-related sexual assaults on college campuses are more frequent than are forcible assaults and are most frequently preceded by voluntary alcohol consumption.     

The Impact of Experiential Exercises on Communication and Relational Skills in a Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper-Training Program for College Resident Advisors

Abstract

Objective: In an effort to identify students at risk for suicide, many colleges are implementing suicide prevention training for campus gatekeepers. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 3-hour, experiential-based gatekeeper training that included an emphasis on enhancing communication skills and relational connection in addition to the didactic foci of standard gatekeeper training. Participants: Sixty-five college student resident advisors (RAs) were trained with Campus Connect. Methods: The training was dismantled to examine the specific contribution of experiential exercises on training outcomes. Results: Compared to didactic training alone, following participation in experiential exercises RAs’ training outcome scores exhibited additional improvement on the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory–2 and a 14-item self-report measure of self-efficacy for specific suicide- and crisis-related knowledge and skills. Conclusions: In gatekeeper training, experiential exercises emphasizing awareness and empathic responding and practice of these skills contribute to an improvement in crisis response skills above and beyond that of didactic training alone.     

Exploring Definitions of Financial Abuse in Elderly Korean Immigrants: The Contribution of Traditional Cultural Values

The purpose of this study is to explore the cultural definitions of financial abuse from the perspective of 124 elderly Korean immigrants and to examine the role of traditional cultural values in their definitions by using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative analysis generated four themes relevant to definition of financial abuse. A binary logistic regression indicated that those with stronger cultural adherence to traditional values had higher odds of providing culture-based definitions of financial abuse. Education is needed for health professionals, social service providers, and adult protective workers to increase their understanding of culture-specific experiences of financial abuse among ethnic minority elders.     

Crime,antisocial personality and pathological gambling

To investigate the hypothesized causal relationship between pathological gambling and gambling-related illegal behaviors, 77 patients seeking behavioral treatment for excessive gambling and 32 members of Gamblers Anonymous were administered a structured interview schedule. Data on the incidence, nature and extent of both gambling and non-gambling related illegal behaviors was obtained and DSM-III (A.P.A., 1980) criteria for Antisocial personality were used as the measure of sociopathy.Of the sample, 54.1% admitted to a gambling related offense and 21.1% were charged. Results showed that 14.6% met DSM-III criteria for Antisocial Personality, Four subgroups were subsequently identified; gamblers who committed no offense (36.7%), gambling only offenses (40.4%), non-gambling only offenses (9.2%) or both gambling and non-gambling offenses (13.7%). Significantly more subjects from the gambling plus non-gambling related offenses subgroup were classified as antisocial personalities.Of pathological gamblers who committed offenses, two thirds reportedly did so as a direct consequence of gambling induced problems. Subjects reporting gambling-only related offenses showed a significant increase in antisocial features after adolescence suggesting that antisocial features emerge as a secondary phenomenon to pathological gambling behavior patterns.Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by a grant from the Criminology Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology.     

The Nonmetro/metro Context of Racial/ethnic Outmarriage: Some Differences between African Americans and Mexican Americans1

Abstract Data from the 1990 U. S. Census are used to examine nonmetro-metro distinctions in the outmarriage patterns of the nation's two largest minority groups—African Americans and Mexican Americans. The analysis is guided by a multilevel model combining individual- and community-level determinants of outmarriage. Consistent with notions suggesting that persons in metro areas are less traditional and, perhaps, more tolerant of those different from them, we find that African Americans living in metro areas are more likely to be married to someone from another racial/ethnic group than their peers in nonmetro areas, even after residential differences in individual and community characteristics are taken into account. On the other hand, controlling for other factors, Mexican Americans living in metro areas are not any more likely than those living in nonmetro settings to be exogamous. One possible explanation for this divergent pattern is the relatively recent urbanization of the Mexican American population.     

Evaluating Risk Communications: Completing and Correcting Mental Models of Hazardous Processes, Part II

We propose a decision-analytic framework, called the mental models approach , for evaluating the impact of risk communications. It employs multiple evaluation methods, including think-aloud protocol analysis, problem solving, and a true-false test that allows respondents to express uncertainty about their answers. The approach is illustrated in empirical comparisons of three brochures about indoor radon.