The Voice of the Child in Parenting Coordination: Views of Children,Parents, and Parenting Coordinators

This article examines the views of children, parents, and parenting coordinators (PCs) on child inclusion in the parenting coordination process. Participants in a parenting coordination pilot project in Montréal, Quebec—10 children (ranging in age from 8–17 years old), 14 parents, and 2 PCs—were interviewed at the end of the project. The goal was to understand their perceptions of child participation in parenting coordination interventions. Overall, a vast majority of children and parents agreed that children should be given a forum in parenting coordination and their voices heard. Feedback from PCs on their child inclusion experience also provided rare insight into this practice. Results confirm the importance for children of being heard in postseparation interventions, even when parental conflict is high. These findings add to the growing literature on the participation of children in postseparation interventions.     

Consequences of Casual Sex Relationships and Experiences on Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being: A Prospective Study

Casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) are still considered to be detrimental to the psychological well-being of youth even though findings remain inconclusive. Most studies have focused on emerging adulthood. Using a prospective design based on a representative sample of high school students in the province of Québec, we measured sexually active adolescents’ (N = 2,304) psychological well-being six months after engaging in these relationships while controlling for prior well-being. We analyzed two forms of CSREs, friends with benefits (FWB) and one-night stand (ONS) relationships, as well as levels of sexual intimacy. The results show that CSREs had a small impact (small effect sizes) on subsequent psychological well-being, especially among girls; FWB relationships involving penetrative contact increased girls’ psychological distress and both their alcohol and drug consumption. ONSs including sexual touching increased girls’ psychological distress and their drug use. None of the CSREs influenced boys’ psychological well-being. The findings underscored the importance of using caution when arguing that CSREs are detrimental or harmless to the psychological well-being of adolescents. The results also highlight the importance of taking into account gender and forms of CSREs in prevention and health interventions.     

Children’s perspectives on parenting coordination: Insights from the montreal parenting coordination pilot project

As part of a pilot project in the Montreal area, ten high-conflict families received free parenting coordination services. This explorative study aimed to document, through psychometric measures and semistructured interviews, how the parenting coordination process impacted children involved. Although not statistically significant, results suggest a diminution in the intensity of the conflict between parents over the course of parenting coordination, as perceived by the children. Qualitative data indicates variation in children’s opinions regarding their experience. Approximately half of the sample shared examples of improvements in their lives, mostly to do with diminution of parental conflict and better communication between parents. However, some shared frustrations with the intervention and their belief that parenting coordination was not helpful. Not feeling heard by the parenting coordinator (PC) as well as a perceived lack of neutrality were linked with negative discourse on parenting coordination.     

Is the SOGS an Accurate Measure of Pathological Gambling Among Children, Adolescents and Adults?

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) is widely used to assess the prevalence of pathological gambling. For a variety of reasons, this instrument may not provide an accurate rate of the prevalence of pathological gambling. In this paper, one source of error in data provided by the SOGS is investigated. It is argued that individuals may not fully understand the meaning of some items, and that clarification of the meaning of misunderstood items may in some cases lead to a changed score on the scale. The present study evaluates respondents' understanding of the SOGS items. The results from three studies are reported, each using a different sample: grade school children, adolescents and adults. It was hypothesised that (1) participants would not understand some items of the SOGS, (2) problem gamblers and probable pathological gamblers would be more inclined to interpret items incorrectly than would non-problem gamblers and, (3) consistent with the first two hypotheses, clarification of items would decrease the number of participants identified as problem gamblers or probable pathological gamblers. The data obtained supported hypotheses 1 and 3. Furthermore, hypothesis 2 was supported for grade school children, but not for adolescents or adults. These results are consistent with recent literature on endorsement and acquiescence phenomena, and have implications for prevalence studies of probable pathological gambling.     

Are vascular epiphytes in urban green areas subject to the homogenization of biodiversity? A case study in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Urbanization is a disturbance process that can select species and result in biodiversity homogenization. Despite this, urban green areas shelter nature and are also important to human welfare. Epiphytes are an important functional group present in such areas, that are rarely studied. We evaluated the vascular epiphytic component in 26 urban green areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and tested hypotheses related to the anthropogenic disturbances: 1) the community of epiphytes in urban green areas presents low richness and diversity of species; 2) there is low beta diversity due to flora homogenization represented by a reduced set of more tolerant species to disturbance. A total of 2288 trees (1563 representing phorophytes) and 110 epiphytic species were sampled. Six species were dominant, resulting in low diversity values, but some green areas had relatively high richness. The similarity found between the majority of the sampled areas suggests that epiphytic flora is subject to homogenization due to environmental filters. We found a high richness of species without adaptations to the epiphytic lifeform (accidental epiphytes) (42% of total sampled). Some results suggest that more comprehensive ecological and/or floristic studies about the epiphytes in the urban environment are necessary, such as Orchidaceae as the second richest family (since it is often poor in urban areas). More information about the species distribution patterns are necessary, both regarding the anthropized environments and the relationships with exotic or native phorophytes, as well as to enhance the knowledge of the ecological functions played by the epiphytes in these places.

     

HIV Seroprevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Severe Inpatient Mentally III Homeless

Two related studies were carried out at a state psychiatric center unit designed for the long-term hospitalization of homeless mentally ill people removed from the streets of New York City and taken to hospitals for psychiatric treatment. The first study, a charl review of 102 patients, documented high rates of severe psychiatric illness, alcohol and other substance use, and untreated medical problems. Patient histories showed significant social disadvantages, including high rates of criminal activity and inability to complete high school or establish long-term relationships. Our second study anonymously tested 87 patients between the ages of 18 and 59 for the presence of HIV antibodies. An overall seroprevalence rate of 5.8% is reported. Men and women in this population are likely to have similar rates of HIV infection. Being young, and Black, or Hispanic appears to be associated with increased risk. This disenfranchised population urgently needs a broad array of social, medical and psychiatric selVices. Assertive community outreach programs are necessary to assure delivery of services to this population.