Service Patterns of Adult Survivors of Childhood Versus Adult Sexual Assault/Abuse

This analysis compared the characteristics and service patterns of adult survivors of childhood sexual assault/abuse and adult survivors of adult sexual assault/abuse. Utilizing data from sexual assault crisis centers serving survivors in a Midwestern state over a six year period and controlling for revictimization, we describe and compare the demographic characteristics, referral sources, and service patterns of the two groups. Results indicate that paths into service differ for the two groups. Furthermore, adult survivors of childhood sexual assault/abuse obtain significantly more hours of service and service contacts on average than adult survivors of adult sexual assault/abuse. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Child Advocacy Center Based Group Treatment for Child Sexual Abuse

The present study examines initial symptom presentation among participants, outcomes, and social validity for a group treatment for child sexual abuse delivered at a child advocacy center. Participants were 97 children and their nonoffending caregivers who were referred to Project SAFE (Sexual Abuse Family Education), a standardized, 12-week cognitive-behavioral group treatment for families who have experienced child sexual abuse. Sixty-four percent of children presented with clinically significant symptoms on at least one measure with established clinical cutoffs. Caregivers of children who presented with clinically significant symptoms reported more distress about their competence as caregivers. Children who presented as subclinical were more likely to have experienced intrafamilial sexual abuse. Posttreatment results indicated significant improvements in functioning for all children who participated in treatment, with greater improvements reported for children who initially presented with clinically significant symptoms. Overall, the program was rated favorably on the posttreatment evaluation of social validity.     

Age,Power and Sex in Modern Kenya: A Tale of Two Marriages

This article examines two marriages: one between Kenya's 60-year-old Vice-President, Michael Wamalwa Kijana and 34-year-old Yvonne Nambia and the other between 67-year-old Wambui Otieno, an ex-Mau Mau scout, widow, gender activist and outspoken politician, and 25-year-old Peter Mbugua, a stonemason. Wambui's marriage generated a heated debate both in the country and the Kenyan diasporas. An examination of the public debate and responses that attended the two marriages is suggestive of circulating attitudes towards gender, sex and power in contemporary Kenya. This paper suggests that the response to Wambui's marriage to Mbugua can be understood within a framework of a set of assumptions, values and social truths that form the conventional codes of popular morality in contemporary Kenya.     

Assessing the validity of a single-item HIV risk stage-of-change measure

This study examined the validity of a single-item measure of HIV risk stage of change that HIV prevention contractors were required to collect by the California State Office of AIDS. The single-item measure was compared to the more conventional University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA). Participants were members of Los Angeles County-defined behavioral risk groups recruited from a mobile HIV testing program (N = 123). The study found low correspondence between participants' stage of change on the single-item and the URICA, suggesting that they do not assess the same construct, and that the single item may not provide a valid measure. The current data suggests that the single-item measure should be revised or abandoned in favor of more conventional stage-of-change measures.     

The Prevalence of Problem Gambling Among U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults: Results from a National Survey

A random telephone survey was conducted with a representative sample of 2,274 U.S. residents aged 14–21. The prevalence of problem gambling, as measured by the SOGS-RA, was 2.1%. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the respondents had gambled in the past year, and 11% had gambled more often than twice per week. Males had much higher gambling involvement than females, and gambling involvement increased among older respondents. Blacks were less likely than average to have gambled in the past year, but if they gambled, they were more likely to do so frequently. Low SES respondents were less likely to have gambled in the past year, but if they gambled, they were more likely to be problem gamblers. Life transitions that are associated with assuming adult roles (employment, living independently of parents, non-student status) are also associated with greater gambling involvement. The rates of problem and pathological gambling were lower than those in an adult survey conducted earlier, when measured with the same questionnaire.     

Racial Identity–Related Differential Attributions of Inadequate Responses to Hurricane Katrina: A Social Identity Perspective

This study examines the attribution of responsibility for the problematic response to Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. Based on social identity theory, the study compared the attribution with racism and non-racism factors (situational vs. dispositional attributions) between African American and European American students (n = 505). As hypothesized, African American identity was related to greater racism attribution, even after controlling for demographics, faith factors, and cognitive-emotional reactions to the hurricanes. European American identity was associated with more executive-responsibility attributions, but the effect vanished after adjusting other factors. The study underscores the importance of acknowledging group identity rather than an overarching American identity in exploring the race effect after a national collective trauma. The consequential implications for disaster planning, future research investigation, and social service delivery are discussed.     

Gambling on the Lottery: Sociodemographic Correlates Across the Lifespan

Two representative U.S. telephone surveys of gambling were conducted—an adult survey of adults aged 18 years and older (n = 2,631) and a youth survey of young people aged 14–21 years old (n = 2,274). Because the questions and methods were the same or similar in both surveys, the data from these two surveys were combined into a single dataset to examine the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of gambling and problem gambling across the lifespan. The present work focused specifically on gambling on the lottery which is the most prevalent form of gambling in the U.S. The frequency of gambling on the lottery increased sharply from mid adolescence to age 18 which is the legal age to purchase lottery tickets in most states; lottery play continued to increase into the thirties when it leveled off and remained high through the sixties and then decreased among those 70 years and older. Considering multiple sociodemographic factors together in a negative binomial regression, the average number of days of lottery gambling was significantly predicted by male gender, age, neighborhood disadvantage and whether or not lottery was legal in the state where the respondent lived. These findings can be used to inform policies regarding lotteries in the U.S.     

The history of college health nursing

Almost from the beginning of formal college health programs in the second half of the 19th century, college health nurses were there to care for students in college and university settings. By the end of the 20th century, the role of college health nurses had evolved with the nursing field in general, but with enough unique features for the American Nurses' Credentialing Center to recognize college health nursing as a professional subspecialty and administer the first College Health Nurse Certification examinations. In addition, new nurse practitioner programs provided practicing nurses with more independence, and their duties continued to expand beyond care of the sick to include health promotion, administrative, and teaching activities. As a result of these changes, college health nurses now play a larger role in the life of students and promoting a healthy campus community than ever before in the history of college health.     

Group Images and Possible Selves Among Adolescents: Linking Stereotypes to Expectations by Race and Ethnicity

The study is motivated by the differential alignment of educational achievement and aspirations along race and ethnic lines. Specifically, black and Hispanic students have comparable educational aspirations relative towhites, yet earn much lower grades and test scores. On the other hand, compared to white students, Asian youth overperform in their grades and test scores given their aspirations. Focus groups and interviews of high school students reveal prevalent stereotypes that link ethnic group membership to academic ability as well as other skills. Specifically, Asian youth are believed to be especially gifted in their academic abilities, while blacks are seen as less successful in academic endeavors. Stereotypes about Hispanics focused less on their academic performance and more on their occupational concentration in manual labor. These images form the reference point for the construction of success among ethnic youth; specifically, blacks speak of academic goals in terms of avoiding failure, Hispanic youth aim primarily to avoid factory or manual labor, and Asians focus on keeping up with high expectations of their academic pursuits. Hence, I argue that adolescents define their goals primarily in terms of the stereotypical images attached to their ethnic group. Specifically, minority youth focused on avoiding failure defined by prevalent group stereotypes. Moreover, these images maintain racially and ethnically segregated extracurricular activities that reinforce segregated peer groups. Finally, socialization with same-race peers promote comparable conceptions of success within racial groups.