Assessing mental health and service needs among refugees in Malaysia

Refugees in Malaysia often experience economic insecurity and poverty, poor health, poor mental wellbeing and limited legal rights. Using a survey with quantitative measures and open‐ended questions, we assessed socio‐demographic characteristics, mental health (RHS‐15), and service needs, including interest in group support services, among 86 Dari‐ and Arabic‐speaking refugees living in Kuala Lumpur. High levels of emotional distress were found, as nearly all participants scored positive for distress and average scores were 2.5 times above the cut‐off signifying distress. Distress scores did not vary based on most factors examined, although being married was associated with lower levels of distress. All but one participant expressed interest in participating in a support group. Barriers to potential participation included childcare, sickness and transportation. Additional mental health and social supports are needed among refugees residing in Malaysia. Key Practitioner Message: ? Emotional distress is high among Dari‐ and Arabic‐speaking refugees sampled in Malaysia; ? Participants expressed strong interest in accessing supportive mental health services, including group supports.     

The Relationship among Negative Affect,Distress Tolerance,and Length of Gambling Abstinence Attempt

The present study tested the theory that negative affect and one’s ability to tolerate distress is associated with failure to quit gambling during an abstinence attempt. Specifically, 16 current pathological gamblers who had at least one sustained period of gambling abstinence lasting a minimum of 3 months (i.e., delayed relapsers) and 16 current pathological gamblers who had never remained abstinent for a period longer than 2 weeks (i.e., immediate relapsers), were assessed for baseline levels of negative affect and stress reactivity, as well as faced with a psychological (mental arithmetic) and physical (breath holding) stressor. Compared to the delayed relapsers, the immediate relapsers displayed higher levels of negative affect and stress reactivity. Immediate relapsers also were less likely to persist on the psychological stressor, suggesting that one’s ability to tolerate the initial discomfort of an abstinence attempt may play an important role in gambling treatment outcome. The current project was completed in partial completion of the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology by the first author under the direction of the second author.     

Academic mothers with disabilities: Navigating academia and parenthood during COVID-19

Academic mothers (including nonbinary, trans, and genderqueer parents) have always faced challenges in their profession due to systemic barriers and a “motherhood tax”; however, COVID-19 has exacerbated already existing inequalities (Oleschuk, 2020). This study examines how the pandemic has affected academic mothers with mental health and physical disabilities, as these voices often remain hidden and unheard in academia despite increased awareness of their presence (Brown & Leigh, 2018; Kelly & Senior, 2020). Here, we share the voices of 23 participants using a qualitative methodology drawing from social justice and feminist theories to highlight the lived experience of academic mothers with mental and/or physical disabilities and their experiences as a scholar and parent during COVID-19. Understanding the lived experience of this intersectional population can provide invaluable insights into ableist privilege within higher education, especially in the context of COVID-19 which has substantially disrupted work and homelife routines.     

Prisoners of Conscience

Amnesty International is a human rights organisation that operates right around the world. This article describes its objectives and methods, and discusses some of the factors which have contributed to its successful growth over the past 27 years. It also looks at the relationships between the organisation, the offending authorities and the victims of oppression and their families.     

Drinking and Driving: Alcohol Association with Traffic Accidents

An analysis of drink-driving research methods and findings with reference to traffic accidents is presented. This analysis is used to challenge some of the conclusions about drinking and driving that have gained wide currency in Australia and New Zealand. The growing acceptance of Scandinavian-type laws is critically evaluated. The demand to ‘criminalize’ drink-driving offences is rejected. The reduction of deat and damage from traffic accidents is presented as the real problem, not the drinking and driving of the population at large.     

On adaptive estimation

Point estimates that are weighted averages of other estimates are considered. They are adaptive because the weights are also functions of the sample observations.In particular, the weights are functions of new measures of peakedness and skewness. Five adaptive estimators are compared (in a Monte Carlo study using the swindle) to some of the usual estimators, including those robust ones of Huber and Tukey. In addition, the swindle constant is considered in some detail. All of the adaptive estimators do extremely well with an adaptive biweight statistic being the best one in this study. Suggestions are made about future directions in this area.     

THE PROXIMATE CONTEXTS OF WORKFARE AND WORK:

This article provides a framework for examining how the conditions of urban, low-income, single motherhood and the resources available through personal networks shape mothers' conduct in work-welfare programs. It suggests how research on welfare programs ignores work-family linkages and misses the ways economic action is embedded in social structures and communal constraints. Three rubrics of proximate context, referring to personal networks, urban environments, and moral economies, organize material indicating how patterns of personal life shape work efforts. Data from a qualitative study of mothers in AFDC work-welfare programs provide illustrations.