How to Inform: Comparing Written and Video Education Interventions to Increase Human Papillomavirus Knowledge and Vaccination Intentions in Young Adults

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of 2 human papillomavirus (HPV) educational interventions on increasing HPV knowledge and vaccination intentions in college students. Participants: Male (n = 60) and female (n = 140) undergraduates (M _age = 20.4, SD = 2.3) recruited from a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from October 2009 to March 2010. Methods: Using theory-based interventions, participants were randomly assigned to either a written HPV pamphlet, an HPV video, or a control. HPV knowledge and vaccination intentions were assessed pre and postintervention. Results: Low baseline knowledge and intentions were found across groups. Postintervention, participants in the written and video interventions had significantly higher knowledge and intentions than the control. No differences were found between written and video interventions on knowledge or intentions. Conclusion: This study, a first in comparing HPV educational formats, suggests that both written and video interventions are equally effective in educating about HPV and increasing young adults’ vaccination intentions.     

Evaluating a Web-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Maladaptive Perfectionism in University Students

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed a Web-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for maladaptive perfectionism, investigating perfectionism, anxiety, depression, negative automatic thoughts, and perceived stress. Participants: Participants were undergraduate students defined as maladaptive perfectionists through a screening questionnaire at an urban university. The data were collected from July 2009 to August 2010. Methods: Forty-seven maladaptive perfectionists were randomly assigned to a 12-week CBT or a wait-list control group and assessed via questionnaires at pre- and postintervention. Statistical procedures included t tests, Pearson correlations, and analysis of covariance. Results: At the postintervention measure, the CBT group demonstrated significant decreases in anxiety sensitivity and negative automatic thoughts compared to the control group. Within the CBT group, changes in perfectionism scores were significantly correlated with positive changes in depression, anxiety, stress, and automatic thoughts. Conclusions: The treatment group improved on psychological outcomes, demonstrating the effectiveness of a Web-based CBT for perfectionism in a university setting.     

Attachment insecurities and under-commitment in distressed couples: The role of positive and negative partner behaviors

Research has rarely considered intermediate variables in the association between attachment insecurities and relationship commitment. Based on attachment theory and Rusbult's Investment Model, we tested whether positive and negative partner behaviors explain this association in 91 distressed couples undergoing therapy. Path analyses based on the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model revealed that individuals with attachment avoidance reported perceiving fewer positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with avoidance also reported perceiving fewer positive partner behaviors, which was in turn associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with attachment anxiety perceived more positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated to their own lower under-commitment. Perceived negative partner behaviors were only directly associated with higher under-commitment. These findings imply that perceived positive partner behaviors may be a key aspect to target in relationship therapy in couples who present with high attachment insecurities.     

What Colleges Are Doing About Student Binge Drinking A Survey of College Administrators

Abstract

In 1999, the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study surveyed 734 US college administrators to learn what colleges were doing to prevent binge drinking. Respondents rated the severity of student alcohol-abuse problems and described prevention efforts and institutional investments in prevention infrastructure. Prevention practices were widespread in the areas of general education about alcohol, use of policy controls to limit access to alcohol, restricting advertising at home-game sporting events, and allocation of living space to alcohol-free dormitories. Programming was less prevalent for more targeted alcohol education, outreach, and restrictions on alcohol advertising in campus media. Nationally, most of the surveyed colleges reported having a campus alcohol specialist, many had task forces, and about half were performing in-house data collection. Less common were program evaluations, community agreements, or neighborhood exchanges. Prevention practices varied with institutional characteristics and the surveyed administrators' perceptions of the severity of alcohol problems.     

Elder Abuse in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on violence and abuse within society generally. Following a focus in the United Kingdom (UK) on child abuse in the 1970s and domestic violence in the 1980s, in the 1990s the abuse and neglect of older people began to elicit concern. The initial focus of interest was of situations arising in the domestic setting. More recently, however, much needed attention has shifted to situations involving institutional settings. This paper will discuss abuse and neglect occurring in the UK. It aims to provide a brief overview of the status of current knowledge concerning abuse of older people followed by a discussion of some of the issues relating to the prevention of abuse and neglect from a UK perspective. An exploration of some of the issues involved will contribute to our understanding of abuse and neglect of older people in the UK.     

“Capacity Is Key”: Investigating New Legal Provisions in England and Wales for Adult Safeguarding

This study aimed to investigate the views and experiences of local Safeguarding Adults Coordinators of the newly implemented Mental Capacity Act 2005. This legislation in England and Wales has both protection and empowerment as its dual goals. Fifteen Safeguarding Adults Coordinators (SACs) employed by local authorities in the London area were interviewed in 2008, and again 2 years later. A total of 12 SACs participated in the 2010 follow-up interviews. The findings are reported here, covering experiences and views on the implementation and uses of the Act. There was overwhelming support for the Act as enhancing people's rights to a life free from abuse, of providing a framework for the assessment of decision-making capacity, and of assisting practitioners in reducing risks and responding to abusive situations. Participants urged better publicity about the Act, more detailed guidance on the new offenses, and greater attention to the interactions with other government policy goals.     

Preventing and Combating Elder Mistreatment in Flanders (Belgium): General Overview

In Flanders, the state that comprises the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, the structural attention given to the problem of elder mistreatment has grown slowly throughout the last decade. Equivalent to the evolution in most other western countries, there is nevertheless still a great lack of scientific research, and several governments (federal, regional, supralocal, and local) are still very reluctant to provide sufficient means in order to prevent and combat elder mistreatment. This article aims to present a general overview of the current state of affairs in the regional state of Flanders to address elder mistreatment. More concretely, it will highlight the history of the Flemish Reporting Point for Elder Abuse, what its aims are, and what definition and typology of elder mistreatment it uses in its daily activities. Because of the importance of well-conducted scientific research and excellent academic support in order for policymakers and social services to deal efficiently with elder mistreatment, the lack of scientific research in Flanders also will be briefly highlighted.     

A Profile of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Admitted to Nursing Homes: 2000–2008

Middle-aged adults are becoming an increasing share of the nursing home population. Minimum Data Set assessment data for 2000 and 2008 are used to explore similarities and differences in sociodemographic, residential, medical, and psychiatric characteristics of newly admitted middle-aged adults (31–64) compared to their older counterparts (65+). Relative to their share of the state population, Black middle-aged adults are overrepresented in nursing homes across 45 states and the District of Columbia. Chronic conditions, including diabetes, renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and circulatory/heart disorders, appeared to contribute to the increasing presence of middle-aged adults. There were substantial increases in diagnoses of psychiatric disorders at admission; psychiatric diagnoses were significantly higher among middle-aged adults. Middle-aged adults were also more likely to have residential histories of prior stays in psychiatric facilities relative to older adults. States' rebalancing efforts need to attend to the increasing presence of disability associated with chronic medical and psychiatric conditions among middle-aged adults.     

To Encounter a Child: Maternal Subjectivity and the Aesthetics of Reading

This article offers an outline and preliminary analyses of key aspects of Lisa Baraitser's (2009 Baraitser , L. ( 2009 ). Maternal Encounters: The Ethics of Interruption . London, UK, and New York , NY : Routledge . [Google Scholar]) Maternal Encounters as a situating opening piece in a special feature arising from an intensive seminar on Baraitser's work held in Dublin in September 2010. The first section opens out some of the psychoanalytic implications of Baraitser's theory of maternal subjectivity. The second section considers the importance of temporality and the interruption of the “seamless” thinking subject for the emergence of a maternal subject and considers Baraitser's maternal subject in relation to some key queer and feminist positionings of maternity. The final section assesses the text's contribution to philosophical debates. First, it discusses how Baraitser attends to the everyday in developing an aesthetics of ordinariness. Second, it looks at deconstruction and inhabitation. Finally, it considers cultural phenomenology, objects, and the magic Baraitser locates in things.