The Role of Humor Styles and Shared Laughter in the Postdivorce Recovery Process

ABSTRACT

Humorous communication has the potential to bolster resilient outcomes in individuals, and this could be especially true postdivorce. Framed by the resilience model and the stress buffering hypothesis, this study examined humor styles and shared laughter as coping mechanisms following divorce. Results indicate that participants (N = 89) who used self-defeating humor experienced physical stress, the time since the divorce was finalized influenced stress and rumination, and physical stress symptoms are suppressed by shared laughter with a source of social support. The implications of humor as an individual resource and shared laughter as a social resource in postdivorce resiliency are discussed.     

Gender-Specific Barriers to Self-Sufficiency Among Former Supplemental Security Income Drug Addiction and Alcoholism Beneficiaries: Implications for Welfare-To-Work Programs and Services

ABSTRACT

This study examines barriers to economic self-sufficiency among a panel of 219 former Supplemental Security Income (SSI) drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A) recipients following elimination of DA&A as an eligibility category for SSI disability benefits. Study participants were comprehensively surveyed at six measurement points following the policy change. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine full-sample and gender-specific barriers to economic self-sufficiency. Results indicate that access to transportation, age, and time are the strongest predictors of achieving self-sufficiency for both men and women leaving the welfare system. Gender-specific barriers are also identified. Future research needs to assess the generalizability of these results to other public assistance recipients.     

Emerging methods for the physiological assessment of occupational stress

Occupational stress is implicated as an etiology for a variety of diseases. Many of the etiological theories surrounding these associations incriminate some deviation of autonomic nervous system activity. New methods of analyzing cardiovascular data obtained from a Holter monitor provide a window into a worker's autonomic nervous system throughout the day, in many cases for two days. These methods allow a variety of comparisons, for example, between workers of varying job stress levels, between work days and rest days, day and night, and between high stress and low stress periods. Identifying altered autonomic nervous system activity patterns throughout the day may: 1. provide insight into the etiology of stress related pathologies; 2. allow quantification of exposure; 3. investigate possible interaction effects of different exposures; 4. lead to monitoring methods capable of identifying whether an employee's job stress is increasing his or her risk for disease.     

Biomechanics of the heel-raise exercise

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether increases in internal (muscular) demand would be proportional to increases in the external demand during heel-raise exercise. Seven male (mean age 74.9 +/- 4.8 years) and 9 female (mean age 74.4 +/- 5.1 years) older adults performed both double-leg heel raises and single-leg heel raises under 3 loading conditions (no external resistance and +5% and +10% of each participant's body weight). Kinematic and kinetic dependent variables were calculated using standard inverse-dynamics techniques. The results suggest that although the single-heel raise led to increases in peak net joint moments, power, and mechanical-energy expenditure (MEE), it did so at the expense of range of motion and angular velocity. In addition, increasing the external resistance by 5% of participants' body weight did not elicit significant changes in either the power or the MEE of the ankle joint. These effects should be considered when prescribing these exercises to older adults.     

Female adolescent smoking: a Delphi study on best prevention practices

The present researchers used a multi-wave Delphi methodology to determine what 14 knowledgeable substance abuse professionals believe are the most appropriate smoking prevention practices for female adolescents. While there was some agreement with the emerging literature, particularly on weight control issues and parental involvement, there was also endorsement of items that appear to be equally salient for both males and females. While the panelists generally acknowledged differential risk factors for females, and the need for prevention programming around these risk factors, more research on gender specific programming is needed before prevention experts are ready to agree on clear and specific practices for adolescent females.     

An Approach for Modeling Noncancer Dose Responses with an Emphasis on Uncertainty

This paper presents an approach for characterizing the probability of adverse effects occurring in a population exposed to dose rates in excess of the Reference Dose (RfD). The approach uses a linear threshold (hockey stick) model of response and is based on the current system of uncertainty factors used in setting RfDs. The approach requires generally available toxicological estimates such as No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Levels (NOAELs) or Benchmark Doses and doses at which adverse effects are observed in 50% of the test animals (ED₅₀s). In this approach, Monte Carlo analysis is used to characterize the uncertainty in the dose response slope based on the range and magnitude of the key sources of uncertainty in setting protective doses. The method does not require information on the shape of the dose response curve for specific chemicals, but is amenable to the inclusion of such data. The approach is applied to four compounds to produce estimates of response rates for dose rates greater than the RfD     

Risk and panic in late modernity: implications of the converging sites of social anxiety

Comparing moral panic with the potential catastrophes of the risk society, Sheldon Ungar contends that new sites of social anxiety emerging around nuclear, medical, environmental and chemical threats have thrown into relief many of the questions motivating moral panic research agendas. He argues that shifting sites of social anxiety necessitate a rethinking of theoretical, methodological and conceptual issues related to processes of social control, claims making and general perceptions of public safety. This paper charts an alternative trajectory, asserting that analytic priority rests not with an understanding of the implications of changing but converging sites of social anxiety. Concentrating on the converging sites of social anxiety in late modernity, the analysis forecasts a proliferation of moral panics as an exaggerated symptom of the heightened sense of uncertainty purported to accompany the ascendency of the risk society.     

Drinking patterns, problems, and motivations among collegiate bisexual women

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors compared the drinking behaviors, motivations, and problems of collegiate bisexual women with those of heterosexual women (N = 2,788; n = 86 bisexual women). METHODS: Data came from the 2003 Student Life Survey, a random population-based survey at a large midwestern university. The authors explored the hypothesis that bisexual women would be more likely than heterosexual women to report drinking motivations related to stress and coping as a result of sexual identity stigma. RESULTS: They found that bisexual women drank significantly less than did heterosexual women. There were few differences between the 2 groups in drinking motivations and problems. Bisexual women reported a comparable number of problems related to their drinking but were significantly more likely to report contemplating suicide after drinking than were heterosexual women. CONCLUSIONS: More research is needed to understand the finding that despite lower levels of alcohol consumption, bisexual women reported a comparable number of drinking problems. College health educators and health care providers need to be aware of findings related to heightened suicidal risk among bisexual women.