Urge to Gamble in Problem Gamblers Exposed to a Casino Environment

Cue-reactivity has received increased attention in addiction research, though not for gambling in particular. We examined cue reactivity in 18 problem gamblers by accompanying them to a gaming casino and measuring their subjective urge to gamble over a 1-h period. Half of the sample was additionally exposed to a gambling-specific negative mood induction (NMI) manipulation via guided imagery. Overall, about two-thirds of the sample reported moderate to high-gambling urges during the casino exposure. Additionally, the NMI reduced cue-reactivity. Finally, gambling urges in both groups decreased over the course of the exposure sessions. These findings suggest that a majority of problem gamblers experience the urge to gamble when exposed to gambling cues and that the intensity of these urges decrease with time, especially in the presence of a gambling-relevant NMI. Cue exposure should be studied further as a potential tool in the treatment of problem gambling.     

Hospital-to-community transitions. A bridge program for adolescent mental health patients

Making the transition from the hospital to a community setting can be extremely challenging for patients with acute mental health conditions. Transitional services have been created to help patients overcome difficulties associated with this transition. Nurses frequently play an integral role in the success of these services. By providing patients with individualized support during such transitions, nurses act as clinical liaisons and directly contribute to an increase in positive patient and system-level outcomes. This article describes a transitional service called the Bridge Program, designed to help adolescents make a successful transition from the hospital to the community. An overview of the Bridge Program is provided, and the results of an evaluation of this program are presented. Results suggest that the Bridge Program contributes to a decrease in the length of hospital stays and improves continuity of care for patients and their families.     

Towards a material ethnography of linguistic landscape: Multilingualism,mobility and space in a South African township1

The study of multilingual landscapes promises to introduce a new perspective into theories and policies of multilingualism, and to provide essential data for a politics of language. However, the theorization of space and language underlying the notion of linguistic landscape is not able to capture the manifold complexities of (transnational) multilingual mobility that is characteristic of many late‐modern multilingual societies. Basing our argument on signage data from a contemporary South Africa in a dynamic phase of social transformation, we argue that more refined notions of space coupled to a material ethnography of multilingualism could provide a theoretically more relevant and methodologically refocused notion of (multilingual) linguistic landscape. Specifically, we take an approach to landscapes as semiotic moments in the social circulation of discourses (in multiple languages), and view signs as re‐semiotized, socially invested distributions of multilingual resources, the material, symbolic and interactional artifacts of a sociolinguistics of mobility.     

Evidence-based practice: a critical reflection

This article employs the process of critical reflection to uncover and challenge the hegemonic assumptions of evidence-based practice (EBP). The critical reflection process results in a re-conceptualisation of best practices that, while still honouring empirical research, is less hierarchical and more inclusive of a broad spectrum of interests than traditional EBP. Multidimensional Evidence-Based Practice (MEBP) validates consumer wisdom, professional experience, and qualitative research as equal partners to quantitative research in determining current state-of-the art best practices. Furthermore, MEBP incorporates a value-critical analysis of those best practices that can lead to improvements and innovations, so that ‘best practices’ becomes a dynamic rather than a static construct.     

Relationship between urbanization and bat community structure in national parks of the southeastern U.S.

Urbanization and development are predicted to increase considerably in the United States over the next several decades, and this is expected to result in large-scale habitat loss, fragmentation and loss of wildlife species. Thus, natural parks and preserves are becomingly increasingly important in the conservation of regional biodiversity. We used mist-nets and AnabatII acoustic detectors to survey bats in 10 national parks in the southeastern U.S. and examined the relationship between bat community structure and development in the surrounding 5 km. We predicted that species richness would increase with park size and that species richness and evenness would decrease with development. Species richness was not related to development or any other landscape characteristics including park size. In contrast, species evenness declined with increasing development. Percent Developed land in the surrounding 5 km area was the only variable that entered into the stepwise regression model. The decrease in species evenness in the urban parks was due to the dominance of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in these parks. The percentage of big brown bats in our captures was positively related to percent Developed land in the surrounding area. Our data suggest that urban parks may be important for conserving regional bat biodiversity. However, the low species evenness in these parks suggests that some bat species may be susceptible to the effects of urbanization and may be extirpated over time. Thus, management of urban as well as rural parks should strive to conserve as much bat roosting and foraging habitat as possible.     

“It Is What It Is”: Masculinity,Homosexuality, and Inclusive Discourse in Mixed Martial Arts

In this article we make use of inclusive masculinity theory to explore online media representations of male homosexuality and masculinity within the increasingly popular combat sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Adopting a case-study approach, we discuss narratives constructed around one aspirational male MMA fighter, Dakota Cochrane, whose history of having participated in gay pornography became a major talking point on a number of MMA discussion/community Web sites during early 2012. While these narratives attempted to discursively rescue Cochrane’s supposedly threatened masculinity, highlighting both his “true” heterosexuality and his prodigious fighting abilities, they also simultaneously celebrated the acceptance of homosexual men within the sport that Cochrane’s case implied. Thus, we suggest that these media representations of homosexuality and masculinity within MMA are indicative of declining cultural homophobia and homohysteria and an inclusive vision of masculinity, as previously described by proponents of inclusive masculinity theory.     

Disasters,migrations, and the unintended consequences of urbanization: What’s the harm in getting out of harm’s way?

Under many circumstances, the global rural-to-urban migration trend may be increasingly adopted as a short-term coping strategy to shifting ecologies and natural disasters. While offering certain benefits from macro-level economic and public health perspectives, these migrations may also have unintended psychological consequences that are not easily understood through traditional disaster studies or cost–benefit analyses. If the goal of disaster and climate change research is to promote successful adaptation, then the long-term psychological well-being of people who have survived disaster and either adapted in situ or migrated into urban environments, is paramount. This article integrates research on disasters and climate change-induced migration with emerging perspectives from environmental psychology and the psychology of natural disasters to consider the potential costs of particular migration scenarios. We apply this analysis to the case of Shishmaref, Alaska, a rural Iñupiat community on the northwest coast of Alaska facing habitual flooding disasters linked to climate change. Findings from Shishmaref illustrate the cultural vitality of subsistence landscapes and the potential health risks of compromised human–ecological relationships due to migration and/or displacement. Recommendations for policy makers and researchers are offered for promoting long-term well-being among affected individuals and communities.     

Getting closure: The role of urban forest canopy density in moderating summer surface temperatures in a large city

With a growing number of people living in urban areas, city residents are more frequently exposed to stresses related to the built environment including elevated summer surface temperatures contributing to the urban heat island (UHI) effect. This study examines the role of urban tree density in moderating surface temperature variation in a densely populated city (Toronto, Canada). By applying parallel aspatial (OLS) and spatial regression (GWR) approaches with satellite derived data describing tree canopy density and surface temperature, one dimension of tree canopy quality (i.e., canopy density) is shown to contribute directly to a reduction in the surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect at a local scale. Though the model fit differed between the two regression approaches, both exhibited moderately strong explanatory power and demonstrated that observed surface temperature decreases in locations with increasing high-density and closed tree canopy. Study findings provide an empirical basis to recommend that municipal urban forest strategies embrace canopy quality metrics, such as increasing the density of existing urban forest stands, as a part of tree planting objectives seeking to effectively deliver temperature moderation as a valuable ecosystem service.