Peer Support Groups for Child Welfare–Involved Families

Studies on risk factors and circumstances related to child maltreatment have continuously emphasized the important role of social support. As a result, peer support groups have been gaining attention and recognition in recent years in the field of child maltreatment prevention. However, little is known about the benefits that child welfare–involved parents receive in peer support groups, as well as the distinctive service elements that make these groups successful. By examining child welfare–involved parents’ experiences participating in peer support groups, this study provided a better understanding of the perceived beneficial aspects of peer support groups, specific types of supports offered to and by peers, and unique characteristics of these groups.     

Knowledge Regarding Hymens and the Sex Education of Parents

The objective of this study was to ascertain beliefs and knowledge of pediatricians and parents regarding the hymen and to evaluate parental and pediatrician attitudes regarding sex education by pediatricians. Surveys were distributed anonymously to parents and pediatricians. Survey questions included knowledge of the female hymen and questions regarding attitudes toward sexual health education. There was a statistically significant difference in mean knowledge scores between pediatricians and parents regarding the hymen (3.7 versus 1.3; p < 0.0001). Almost two-thirds of pediatricians (63%) felt comfortable providing sexual health education directly to their patients, but only 41% felt comfortable educating parents. Pediatricians and parents demonstrate knowledge gaps about the hymen.     

Evaluating Animal-Assisted Therapy in Group Treatment for Child Sexual Abuse

This study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of three group interventions on trauma symptoms for children who have been sexually abused. All of the groups followed the same treatment protocol, with two of them incorporating variations of animal-assisted therapy. A total of 153 children ages 7 to 17 who were in group therapy at a Child Advocacy Center participated in the study. Results indicate that children in the groups that included therapy dogs showed significant decreases in trauma symptoms including anxiety, depression, anger, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociation, and sexual concerns. In addition, results show that children who participated in the group with therapeutic stories showed significantly more change than the other groups. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Compassionate Listening: A Framework for Listening to the Seriously Ill

Present conceptions of listening, such as empathic or therapeutic listening, do not provide a way of alleviating the sense of being alone felt by individuals who are seriously ill or suffering in some other way. Compassionate listening, a kind of dialogic listening, provides a framework for approaching these significant listening situations that emphasizes our interconnectedness and our shared humanity and that seeks to overcome the isolation so commonly felt during serious illness.     

Relationship between vitamin D receptor BsmI and FokI polymorphisms and anthropometric and biochemical parameters describing metabolic syndrome

Introduction.?It was found that vitamin D may have a direct effect on adipocyte differentiation and metabolism and might be involved in the glucose regulation of insulin secretion, as suggested from the discovery of a nuclear localization of 1,25-(OH)₂D₃ in pancreatic islets. In recent years, several polymorphisms in the VDR gene which are able to alter the activity of VDR protein have been described. The BsmI and FokI polymorphisms were described in relation to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The aim of the study was to find whether there are associations between BsmI and FokI polymorphisms and anthropometric (BMI, WHR, BP) and biochemical parameters describing metabolic syndrome.

Materials and methods.?Studied were 176 randomly selected men aged 25–65 years (mean: 51.99 years) with a mean BMI of 28.06 kg/m². Two polymorphisms of the VDR gene (FokI and BsmI) were explored using the PCR-RFLP method. Serum glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and TG were measured using commercially available kits.

Results.?It was found that BB carriers tend to have higher BMI (29.00 ± 3.74 versus 26.81 ± 3.76, p = 0.024) and waist circumference (101.79 ± 10.59 versus 96.23 ± 10.35, p = 0.014) compared with the bb genotypes. Similarly, FF and Ff carriers had higher fasting insulin levels than the ff genotypes (12.30 ± 10.26 versus 9.76 ± 5.88, p = 0.001 and 9.76 ± 5.88 vs. 6.35 ± 2.64, p = 0.008), and lover cHDL levels in comparison to ff genotypes (52.28 ± 10.02 versus 60.63 ± 16.58, p = 0.015 and 53.70 ± 12.03 versus 60.63 ± 16.58, p = 0.032. Besides these, no significant differences were found.

Conclusions.?The BsmI VDR polymorphism seems to influence BMI, while the FokI VDR polymorphism appears to affect insulin sensitivity and serum cHDL level.     

Teenage fertility and its social integration correlates: A control theory explanation

This study uses control theory to explain teenage fertility in one southeastern state. Control theory explains deviance from societal norms in terms of weak social bonding or integration. An important assumption of the study is that teenage parenting violates American parenting norms, and can thus be conceptualized as deviant behavior. Consequently, this study hypothesizes that teenage fertility should covary with measures of social integration. This study uses data from 64 parishes in Louisiana, and the results suggest that measures of social integration (i.e., divorce rates, percentage of population living alone, and personal alienation) are significant predictors of teenage fertility in non urban settings and explain approximately 53% of the variance in teenage fertility. However, among urban parishes, socioeconomic status is the only significant predictor of teenage fertility, explaining almost 44% of its variance.     

Particular polyglots: multilingual students with autism

Many American children with autism live in multilingual environments. Yet an almost diametric contrast exists between the advice of practitioners and the recommendations found in scholarly literature. Whereas practitioners almost unanimously counsel that children on the autism spectrum be exposed to English alone, an increasing number of scholars have argued the potential benefits for these children of learning their parents’ native language as well. This paper argues that, in fact, language recommendations for children on the spectrum should fall somewhere between these two poles and be tailored to individual children and their families.     

The Stigma of Privilege: Racial Identity and Stigma Consciousness Among Biracial Individuals

Racial identification is a complex and dynamic process for multiracial individuals, who as members of multiple racial groups have been shown to self-identify or be identified by others differently, depending on the social context. For biracial individuals who have white and minority ancestry, such identity shifting (e.g., from minority to white, or vice versa) may be a way to cope with the threats to their racial identity that can be signaled by the presence or absence of whites and/or minorities in their social environment. We examine whether stigma consciousness (Pinel in J Pers Soc Psychol 76(1):114–128, 1999; i.e., the chronic awareness of the stereotyping and prejudice that minorities face) interacts with the sociocultural context to predict social identity threat, belonging, and racial identification. Using experience sampling methodology, minority/white biracial individuals (27 Asian/white, 22 black/white, and 26 Latino/white) reported the racial composition of their environment, social identity threat for their component racial identities, overall feelings of belonging, and racial identification over a 1-week period. Results suggest that stigma consciousness predicts the extent to which biracial people identify with their white background and experience belonging in different racial contexts. We discuss racial identity shifting in response to context-based threats as a protective strategy for biracial people, and identity where participants’ sociocultural contexts and experiences with racial identity and threat differ as a result of their minority racial group or ascribed race.