Preliminary support for the use of narrative exposure therapy in a child protection context: Collective case-study narratives

The present paper attempts to provide preliminary support for the use of narrative exposure therapy (NET) in a child protection context. The prevalence of violence, abuse and neglect (VAN) within New South Wales is outlined as well as the current perspectives in trauma definition and symptomology, and the prevalence of trauma symptomology among birthparents and young people within child protection services. NET is introduced including its theoretical background, methodology, applications and research. Four applications of NET within a child protection context are presented, including lifelines and narrative excerpts. Specific themes presented included experiences of physical abuse, domestic and family violence, parental drug use, suicidal ideation and child removal. Statistical analysis including reliable change, clinical and statistical significance of pre- and post-PCL-5 outcomes measures are presented to infer preliminary support for NET within a child protection context. Limitations and future considerations for future research are discussed.     

On an algorithm for solving Fredholm integrals of the first kind

Statistics and Computing - In this paper we use an iterative algorithm for solving Fredholm equations of the first kind. The basic algorithm and convergence properties are known under certain...     

Generalized growth curve models for longitudinal data in application to a randomized controlled trial

Growth curve analysis is beneficial in longitudinal studies, where the pattern of response variables measured repeatedly over time is of interest, yet unknown. In this article, we propose generalized growth curve models under a polynomial regression framework and offer a complete process that identifies the parsimonious growth curves for different groups of interest, as well as compares the curves. A higher order of a polynomial degree generally provides more flexible regression, yet it may suffer from the complicated and overfitted model in practice. Therefore, we employ the model selection procedure that chooses the optimal degree of a polynomial consistently. Consideration of a quadratic inference function (Qu et al., 2000) for estimation on regression parameters is addressed and estimation efficiency is improved by incorporating the within-subject correlation commonly existing in longitudinal data. In biomedical studies, it is of particular interest to compare multiple treatments and provide an effective one. We further conduct the hypothesis test that assesses the equality of the growth curves through an asymptotic chi-square test statistic. The proposed methodology is employed on a randomized controlled longitudinal dataset on depression. The effectiveness of our procedure is also confirmed with simulation studies.     

Maternal neural reactivity during pregnancy predicts infant temperament

Maternal biological systems impact infant temperament as early as the prenatal period, though the mechanisms of this association are unknown. Using a prospective, longitudinal design, we found that maternal (N = 89) amplitudes of the late positive potential (LPP) in response to negative stimuli during the second, but not the third, trimester of pregnancy predicted observed and physiological indices of temperamental reactivity in infants at age 4 months. Maternal LPP was positively associated with observed infant fear and negatively associated with frontal EEG asymmetry and cortisol reactivity in infants at age 4 months. Results identify a putative mechanism, early in pregnancy, for the intergenerational transmission of emotional reactivity from mother to infant.     

Evidence of Diverse Identities in a Large National Sample of Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents

Adolescence is a time of identity exploration, and preliminary evidence indicates the ways adolescents are describing their sexual and gender identities (SOGI) are changing. A nuanced understanding of SOGI is necessary for valid assessment in developmental research. Current measures do not capture the diversity of emerging identities among young people. Our study analyzed a national sample of 17,112 sexual and gender minority adolescents (13–17 years) to better understand how identity labels are reported across sexual, gender, and ethnoracial minorities. Adolescents reported 26 distinct SOGI categories; 24% of adolescents utilized nontraditional SOGI labels, such as pansexual and nonbinary. These identifications varied significantly as a function of ethnoracial identity. Results have implications for how scholars conceptualize and measure SOGI among adolescents.     

Self-Rated Health and Attitudes About U.S. Health Care Policy

How does one’s own health influence attitudes about national health care policy? Previous research has documented a reliable (though bounded) role of personal interest in shaping policy preferences, but little is known about the role that personal health plays in shaping these attitudes. Using recent General Social Survey data, we find that those with poorer self-rated health were more likely to endorse a strong role for government in providing health care, and more likely to endorse increased spending on health care. Further analysis suggested that this relationship was moderated by political ideology. Implications for better understanding the source of health policy support are discussed.     

Women's Career Progression in Law Firms: Views from the Top,Views From Below

Law continues to be an attractive career path for women. Yet evidence shows that women's careers in law stagnate with proportionally small numbers of women progressing up the hierarchy from law graduate to partner. In this study we investigated how gendering and class processes impact on women's career progression. A major contribution is that we explored the heterogeneous views held by women below and above the partnership line, in Auckland's top law firms. Drawing on Acker's gendering processes (1990, 2006a) plus the accumulation of appropriate capitals needed to progress, we analysed 52 interview accounts. The women lawyers themselves were divided on how gendering and class processes impact on their career progression. Women partners accepted the hierarchical employment model of law and were confident in their role and place. Women below the partner line, while frustrated by the personal and professional requirements for success, did not demonstrate agency for change. In concluding, we reflect on the potential for change in the profession.     

A Randomized Clinical Trial of Online Stress Inoculation for Adult Children of Divorce

Interventions for helping young adults cope with the stress produced by their parents’ divorce are rarely described or evaluated. Transitions, derived from a stress inoculation framework, was designed to foster stress-coping and parent–young adult relationship skills via the Internet. Participants (95 young adult college students who had experienced parental separation or divorce within the past year) were randomly assigned to experimental and delayed-treatment control conditions. Intervention modules included psychoeducation, relaxation, mindfulness meditation, cognitive restructuring, and communication skills. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded a significant treatment-by-repeated-measures interaction; univariate follow-up analyses of variance showed improvement on stress but not on relationship variables measuring quality of relationship with mother or father. Neither moderator nor intent-to-treat analyses altered this outcome pattern.     

Daily and season-long fantasy sports participation and gambling-related problems among a sample of college students at three universities

Traditionally, fantasy sports have been played in season-long leagues, but recently daily fantasy sports (DFS) have emerged, allowing participants to play fantasy contests over shorter periods of time. Although participating in fantasy sports contests with entry fees or deposits could be considered a form of gambling, very few studies have examined associations between fantasy sport participation and gambling-related problems. Using a 2016 sample of college students (N = 941) at three institutions, this study examined associations between fantasy sports participation (season-long and DFS) and (1) gambling, (2) gambling frequency, and (3) endorsing DSM-5 gambling disorder (GD) criteria. The study found that engagement with fantasy sports and paying to play increased the likelihood of gambling and more frequent gambling. Respondents who paid an entry fee/deposit to play fantasy sports gambled more frequently than those who did not, and respondents who participated in DFS endorsed more DSM-5 GD criteria than those who did not. Because of the association found between DFS play and gambling-related problems in some participants, the study suggests that mental health professionals who treat clients with gambling problems be cognizant of DFS and that some clients might be experiencing problems with DFS.     

Gender and the Residential Mobility and Neighborhood Attainment of Black-White Couples

Including black-white couples in the study of residential stratification accentuates gendered power disparities within couples that favor men over women, which allows for the analysis of whether the race of male partners in black-white couples is associated with the racial and ethnic composition of their neighborhoods. I investigate this by combining longitudinal data between 1985 and 2015 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics linked to neighborhood- and metropolitan-level data compiled from four censuses. Using these data, I assess the mobility of black male–white female and white male–black female couples out of and into neighborhoods defined respectively by their levels of whites, blacks, and ethnoracial diversity. My results show that the race of the male partner in black-white couples tends to align with the racial and ethnic composition of the neighborhoods where these couples reside. This finding highlights that the racial hierarchy within the United States affects the residential mobility and attainment of black-white couples, but its influence is conditioned by the race and gender composition of these couples.