Got One Another's Backs: Mother-Teen Relationships in Families Escaping Intimate Partner Violence

This Life Story study gained a comprehensive picture of experiences of young adolescents (ages 12–14) accompanying mothers in emergency domestic violence shelters. A holistic, chronological approach in interviews with an ethnically diverse sample of youth and their mothers (N = 27) yielded insights into perspectives on relationships. This article focuses on the complex thematic finding “interconnected family boundaries,” a central dynamic in mother-youth relationships characterized by emotional closeness, highly cohesive boundaries, and interdependence in problem solving regarding family issues. Participants identified this dynamic as essential for adaptation yet entailing losses. Discussion considers theoretical triangulation and implications for research, intervention, and practitioner education.     

Collaborative Frame Construction in Social Movement Campaigns: Bisphenol-A (BPA) and Scientist–Activist Mobilization

Previous research has explored the definitional features of the processes of scientific expert activism but has been less clear regarding the dynamics of this scientific activism. This paper addresses these gaps in understanding by using an exploration of the state-based efforts and mobilizations to regulate the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) to identify and analyze the dynamics of interactions between scientists and activists as they collaborate in pursuit of movement objectives. Drawing primarily from interview data and participant observation, I explore how scientific experts—through collaboration and work with activists—impact the processes of movement framing, and how, in turn, the collaborative dissemination of these frames may contribute to movement goals. I argue that the relationships and coordination that developed between BPA scientists and activists resulted in a collaboratively crafted set of frames that were both scientifically rigorous and highly resonant to a public audience.     

Breaking free from siloes: intersectionality as a collective action frame to address toxic exposures and reproductive health

ABSTRACT

There has been increasing interest in collaborative approaches between the environmental justice (EJ) and reproductive justice (RJ) movements to address the higher burden of toxic exposures and associated reproductive health outcomes in vulnerable communities. This study examined the collective action frames (CAFs) of advocates at the EJ/RJ nexus. CAFs highlight how advocates identify problems and solutions, and motivate action. The use of intersectionality was identified as a main CAF used in three key ways: breaking free from identity-based, issue-based, and movement-based siloes. First, interviewees described breaking free from identity-based siloes by identifying risks of toxic exposures that result from intersecting social locations (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, income, immigration status) and by equally prioritizing multiple aspects of their identities as they engage in advocacy. Second, they described breaking free from issue-based siloes by developing multi-issue agendas that address a complex web of interrelated problems impacting health. Third, they described breaking free from movement-based siloes by developing cross-movement collaborations to address issues of mutual concern. Among multiple reasons given for cross-movement collaborations, advocates perceived them as valuable in order to disrupt social, political, and economic power imbalances that shape environmental reproductive health inequities, as well as other health and social inequities. Based on these findings, we suggest that intersectionality is a master frame, and thus may be useful to advocates in other social movements addressing intersectional issues. Understanding an intersectionality frame can help to inform advocacy approaches to promote health and health equity, particularly those focused on policies and structural drivers of health.     

The relationship between negative mood and sexuality in heterosexual college women and men

Negative mood states, such as depression and anxiety, are typically associated with decreased sexual interest and arousal. However, there is also some evidence that depressed or anxious mood may increase sexual interest or arousal in some individuals. In this study, 663 female college students (mean age = 18.9 years, SD = 1.21) answered questions regarding the effects of anxious and depressed mood on sexual interest and arousal and completed trait measures of sexual excitation and inhibition, anxiety, and depression. The majority of women reported decreased sexual interest and response when feeling depressed or anxious; a minority (about 10%) of women, however, reported increased sexual interest/response during anxious and depressed mood. This sample of women was compared to a sample of 399 college‐aged men. In general, men were more likely than women to report increased sexual interest during negative mood states. Of the variables explored, propensity for sexual excitation was the strongest predictor of the relationship between negative mood and sexuality in women. Individual differences in the effects of negative mood may prove relevant to our understanding of a variety of topics, including “risky” and “compulsive” sexual behavior and sexual dysfunction.     

Attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory study was to measure attitudes towards various applications of real and hypothetical reproductive technologies for humans, including prenatal gender selection. A total of 121 undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire measuring knowledge, interest, trust, risks and benefits, and attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans. An exploratory factor analysis showed that participants rated the use of these technologies as unacceptable if it was for personal enhancement but acceptable for “medically useful” applications. Participants also reported not having a gender preference for their (hypothetical) unborn child, were they to use prenatal gender selection, an application very few approved of. Results failed to support a general desire to use prenatal gender selection or to hypothetically favour one gender over the other. Attitudes towards reproductive technologies cannot be simply summarised in a “pro or against” manner as they heavily depend on the context.     

Rapid Emotional Contagion and Expressive Congruence Under Strong Test Conditions

The present research examined whether the observation of emotional expressions rapidly induces congruent emotional experiences and facial responses in observers under strong test conditions. Specifically, participants rated their emotional reactions after (a) single, brief exposures of (b) a range of human emotional facial expressions that included (c) a neutral face comparison using a procedure designed to (d) minimize potential experimental demand. Even with these strong test conditions in place, participants reported discrete expression-congruent changes in emotional experience. Participants’ Corrugator supercilii facial muscle activity immediately following the presentation of an emotional expression appeared to reflect expressive congruence with the observed expression and a response indicative of the amount of cognitive load necessary to interpret the observed expression. The complexity of the C. supercilii response suggests caution in using facial muscle activity as a nonverbal measure of emotional contagion.

Time-on-task, technology and mathematics achievement

Information and communication technologies hold much promise for use in education in developing countries. This study reports on an evaluation conducted on the introduction of computers in the delivery of the mathematics curriculum in one of the provinces of South Africa. Although the request was for an outcome evaluation very early in the implementation of the program, it was tailored in such a way as to fulfill a more formative role. Despite substantial variability in implementation, and in most cases with very weak exposure of the learners to the intervention, sufficient evidence emerged to indicate that this mode of curriculum delivery may be effective. Improvement in mathematics performance was related to a range of variables: some concerned classroom teaching practices, some referred to social differences between the learners, and some to the specific intervention. The strongest of these predictors in the sample was the strength of the intervention: the more time learners spent on using the software to study mathematics, the more improvement they showed from 1 year to the next in their performance in the subject.     

Increasing walking in college students using a pedometer intervention: differences according to body mass index

Objective: The researchers assessed the effectiveness of a pedometer intervention and differences in walking behaviors according to body mass index (BMI). Participants: Two hundred ninety college students completed the intervention from January to February 2005. Methods: Participants wore pedometers 5 days per week for 12 weeks and completed questionnaires assessing demographic information. The authors calculated daily step averages for weeks 1, 6, and 12. They then classified students as underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), or overweight/obese, by BMI. The authors analyzed data using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: The average number of daily steps increased from week 1 to week 6 (p < .001) and week 12 (p = .002). UW participants reported the fewest steps at each time point, but the difference was significant only when compared with NW participants (p = .03). Conclusions: These results support the effectiveness of a pedometer intervention to increase walking in college students. Health benefits other than weight management should be emphasized to maximize the effects for all students.     

Child abuse in the context of domestic violence: prevalence, explanations, and practice implications

This article addresses the following questions: (a) How common is child abuse among domestically violent families? (b) Are there specific patterns of child abuse among domestically violent families? (c) What may explain occurrences of child abuse in domestically violent families? (d) How might domestic violence affect treatment for child abuse? We review research on child abuse in the context of domestic violence. We discuss implications of this research for service-delivery programs for domestically violent families.     

Readiness to change, partner violence subtypes, and treatment outcomes among men in treatment for partner assault

Men court-mandated to attend a batterer's intervention program (BIP) were evaluated to determine whether pre-BIP readiness to change and the presence of partner violence subtypes predicted BIP completion, criminal recidivism, and postadjudication partner violence 6 months post-BIP. Of the 199 subject sample, 40% did not complete BIP. Four readiness-to-change clusters were found, with most men (76%) reporting change-resistant stages-of-change profiles. The partner violence typology reported by Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2000) was supported with clustering into four subtypes: family only (FO), low-level antisocial (LLA), borderline/dysphoric (BD), and generally violent/antisocial (GVA). BIP completion was predicted by violence subtype (with BD and GVA more likely to drop out) but not by pre-BIP readiness to change. Men rearrested scored higher on the precontemplative stage of change and were more likely to be in the BD and GVA subtypes. Implications for counseling strategies are discussed.