Interactional Past and Potential: The Social Construction of Place Attachment

This article presents an interactionist-based theory of place attachment, the emotional bond formed by an individual to a physical site due to the meaning given to the site through interactional processes, and suggests that such attachment is comprised of two interwoven components: (1) interactional past, or the memories of interactions associated with a site, and (2) interactional potential, or the future experiences perceived as likely or possible to occur in a site. To discuss these components, I use the case of an organization that moved to a new location, thereby disrupting its employees’ place attachment to the original site. Data collection involved questionnaires, participant observation, and interviews.     

Australian women's experiences of living with gestational diabetes

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to describe Australian women's reflections on the experience of having a pregnancy affected by GDM.MethodsParticipants were women aged ≥18 years, diagnosed with GDM ≤3 years previously and registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme. Data was collected from a cross-sectional written postal survey which included the opportunity for women to document their experiences of living with GDM. Thematic framework analysis was undertaken to determine underlying themes.ResultsOf 4098 invited eligible women, 1372 consented to participate. Of these, 393 provided feedback on their experiences of living with GDM. Eight key themes emerged from the data (1) shock, fear and anxiety (8.9%), (2) uncertainty and scepticism (9.4%), (3) an opportunity to improve one's health (9.6%), (4) adapting to life with GDM (11.6%), (5) the need for support (17.2%), (6) better awareness (3.5%), (7) abandoned (14.9%), (8) staying healthy and preventing diabetes (13.7%). Women taking insulin were more likely to experience shock, fear or anxiety (p = 0.001) and there was a trend towards women who spoke another language also being more likely to report this experience (p = 0.061). Those diagnosed with GDM in a previous pregnancy (p = 0.034) and younger women (p = 0.054) were less likely to view the diagnosis as an opportunity to improve their health.ConclusionsThis study provides an insight into the experience of the pregnant woman diagnosed with GDM. It emphasises the importance of health professional support and provides insight into the challenges and opportunities for future diabetes risk reduction.     

Goal setting in recovery: families where a parent has a mental illness or a dual diagnosis

Goal setting is an important element within mental health recovery models; however, parenting and children are rarely recognized in such approaches. This study outlines a family recovery planning model where a parent has a mental health or dual substance and mental health problem. The differences between family types (parent with a mental illness or parent with dual diagnosis) and family members (parent and children) are illustrated in terms of goals across 11 domains. There were a total of 33 parents and 50 children from 10 mental illness and 10 dual diagnosis families. Education and specifically mental health knowledge are important goals across all families and appear especially important for children whose parent has a dual diagnosis. Specific goals and achievement levels for each type of family and parents and children are also outlined. Clear areas for action by clinicians and family members are indicated by this study.     

Complicated grief symptoms in caregivers of persons with lung cancer: the role of family conflict, intrapsychic strains, and hospice utilization

Guided by a stress process conceptual model, this study examines social and psychological determinants of complicated grief symptoms focusing on family conflict, intrapsychic strains, and the potential moderating effect of care quality and hospice utilization. Relying on data from 152 spouse and adult child lung cancer caregiver survey respondents, drawn from an ancillary study of the Assessment of Cancer CarE and SatiSfaction (ACCESS) in Wisconsin, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine determinants of complicated grief. After controlling for contextual factors and time since death, complicated grief symptoms were higher among caregivers with less education, among families with lower prior conflict but higher conflict at the end-of-life, who had family members who had difficulty accepting the illness, and who were caring for patients with greater fear of death. Additionally, hospice utilization moderated the effect of fear of death on complicated grief. Findings suggest that family conflict, intrapsychic strains, and hospice utilization may help to explain the variability found in complicated grief symptoms among bereaved caregivers. Implications for enhancing complicated grief assessment tools and preventative interventions across the continuum of cancer care are highlighted.     

Data quality in evaluation of an alcohol-related harm prevention program

The authors report the reliability and convergent validity in a sample of college students for 27 composite scales and two items covering alcohol use, cigarette smoking, marijuana use, and other drug use; beliefs relating to alcohol use; perceived norms for alcohol-related behavior; harm prevention skills; intentions to take prevention action; harm prevention action taken; risk taken; experienced harm; and other health-related behaviors and person characteristics. Data quality assessment strategies and missing data procedures were illustrated for large, multivariate, longitudinal data sets. Results indicate 23 of the 27 composite scales had at least acceptable reliability, and the remaining 4 composite scales had at least marginally acceptable reliability. At least moderate construct validity was demonstrated for 25 scales.     

Posture mirroring and interactional involvement: Sex and sex typing effects

This study investigated the effects of sex (male-male vs. female-female) and sex typing (sex typed-sex typed, sex typed-androgynous, and androgynous-androgynous) on dyadic posture mirroring between strangers in a “waiting room” context. Results revealed a significant interaction between sex composition and sex-typing composition such that among sex-typed pairs, females displayed more posture mirroring than males but among androgynous pairs, the effect was reversed with male dyads showing more posture sharing than female dyads. Results also showed a surprising negative relation between mirroring and rapport as well as a negative correlation between mirroring and verbalization. The suggestion made is that individual action in the form of talk and communal engagement in the form of mirroring may represent different modes of being involved in an interaction.     

Nonstandard Work Schedules and Partnership Quality: Quantitative and Qualitative Findings

This article questions existing findings and provides new evidence about the consequences of nonstandard work schedules on partnership quality. Using quantitative couple data from The Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS) (N = 3,016) and semistructured qualitative interviews (N = 34), we found that, for women, schedules with varying hours resulted in greater relationship dissatisfaction than for men. Men with young children who worked varying hours had less relationship conflict and spent more time with children. Parents used nonstandard schedules for tag‐team parenting or to maintain perceptions of full‐time motherhood. The lack of negative effects, particularly for night shifts, suggests that previous findings—largely U.S. ones—are not universal and may be attributed to wider cultural, industrial relations, and economic contexts.