Qualitative bereavement research: incongruity between the perspectives of participants and research ethics boards

A central feature of the majority of qualitative research is the interactive nature of data collection which generally involves direct and meaningful communication between the individuals conducting the research and the individuals participating in the research. This core aspect of data collection, however, is frequently flagged as the most concerning or potentially harmful aspect of qualitative bereavement research by research ethics boards. Further, there has been a tendency to conceptualize the bereaved as vulnerable and in need of protection in the research process. Instead of thinking that a research interview which explores the complex, personal issues of grief would potentially harm participants, it may be seen as potentially beneficial to participants when the therapeutic aspects of the interview are considered. Participants’ responses to the interview process in two bereavement studies are offered as illustrations to complement the literature on the potential for the researcher‐participant relationship and the research interview to be perceived as beneficial by bereavement research participants.     

Is Locally Led Conservation Planning Working? A Farm Town Case Study1

Abstract A qualitative case study of a rural Illinois community whose water supply has been compromised by a farm chemical is used to highlight the social, cultural, and economic factors that shape locally led planning efforts of a type now being advocated by natural resources governmental agencies. The paper answers the question: why did the central Illinois watershed planning effort craft a cooperative rather than a conflictual solution? Trust of and attachment to farmers, both evidence of social capital, helped community members to balance economic, social and health risks. The balance arrived at created a tacit mandate for a farmer-led planning committee to solve the atrazine problem in a way acceptable to farmers and townspeople. The cooperative solution represents a consensus: concerns remain, but people are willing to support the plan. Consensus also demonstrates that planning as a positive action can create new social capital, which can support further planning.     

Territory Contested Through Property in a Midwestern Post-Agricultural Community1

Abstract Post-agricultural rural communities are emerging in the Midwest as a consequence of regional economic restructuring. Such communities are dominated by residents without economic or social links to those who operate surrounding farms. An ethnographic study of an Illinois hamlet provides a case study for probing the assertion that property issues, more than occupation or family background, shape social relations in post-agricultural communities. Described is a variant of a post-agricultural community termed downscale due to an inmigration of working-poor families attracted by deteriorated, surplus housing. Examined are why and how a village of 200 became a highly contested territory where the struggle between newcomers and the old guard about differing notions of respectability became symbolized by conflict over the appearance and use of private and public property.     

An Eight Component Decision-Making Model for Problem Gambling:A Systems Approach to Stimulate Integrative Research

Problem Gambling (PG) represents a serious problem for affected individuals, their families and society in general. Previous approaches to understanding PG have been confined to only a subset of the psychobiological factors influencing PG. We present a model that attempts to integrate potential causal factors across levels of organization, providing empirical evidence from the vast literature on PG and complimentary literatures in decision-making and addiction. The model posits that components are arranged systematically to bias decisions in favor of either immediately approaching or avoiding targets affording the opportunity for immediate reward. Dopamine, Testosterone and Endogenous Opioids favor immediate approach, while Serotonin and Cortisol favor inhibition. Glutamate is involved in associative learning between stimuli and promotes the approach response through its link to the DA reward system. GABA functions to monitor performance and curb impulsive decision-making. Finally, while very high levels of Norepinephrine can induce arousal to an extent that is detrimental to sound decision-making, the reactivity of the Norepinephrine system and its effects of Cortisol levels can shift the focus towards long-term consequences, thereby inhibiting impulsive decisions. Empirical evidence is provided showing the effects of each component on PG and decision-making across behavioural, neuropsychological, functional neuroimaging and genetic levels. Last, an effect size analysis of the growing pharmacotherapy literature is presented. It is hoped that this model will stimulate multi-level research to solidify our comprehension of biased decision-making in PG and suggest pharmacological and psychological approaches to treatment.     

Social media approaches to modeling wildfire smoke dispersion: spatiotemporal and social scientific investigations

Wildfires have significant effects on human populations, economically, environmentally, and in terms of their general well-being. Smoke pollution, in particular, from either prescribed burns or uncontrolled wildfires, can have significant health impacts. Some estimates suggest that smoke dispersion from fire events may affect the health of one in three residents in the United States, leading to an increased incidence of respiratory illnesses such as asthma and pulmonary disease. Scarcity in the measurements of particulate matter responsible for these public health issues makes addressing the problem of smoke dispersion challenging, especially when fires occur in remote regions. Crowdsourced data have become an essential component in addressing other societal problems (e.g., disaster relief, traffic congestion) but its utility in monitoring air quality impacts of wildfire events is unexplored. In this study, we assessed if user-generated social media content can be used as a complementary source of data in measuring particulate pollution from wildfire smoke. We found that the frequency of daily tweets within a 40,000?km² area was a significant predictor of PM2.5 levels, beyond daily and geographic variation. These results suggest that social media can be a valuable tool for the measurement of air quality impacts of wildfire events, particularly in the absence of data from physical monitoring stations. Also, an analysis of the semantic content in people’s tweets provided insight into the socio-psychological dimensions of fire and smoke and their impact on people residing in, working in, or otherwise engaging with affected areas.     

Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Mental Health,Sexual Risk Behaviors,and Drinking Patterns Among Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men

One in five Latino men who have sex with men has experienced child sexual abuse. Although concerning in itself, child sexual abuse may increase an individuals’ likelihood of depression and risk-taking in adult life, including engagement in HIV risk behaviors and alcohol and substance use. It is therefore urgent that researchers and practitioners better understand the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. We utilized logistic and linear regression to assess associations between child sexual abuse (operationalized as forced or coerced sexual activity before age 17) and depression, sexual behaviors, and drinking patterns in a sample of 176 adult Latino men who have sex with men from New York City. Over one-fifth (22%) of participants reported child sexual abuse. In multivariable models, participants with histories of child sexual abuse were significantly more likely than participants without such histories to screen for clinically significant depressive symptoms and heavy drinking and reported more anal sex acts, male sexual partners, and incidents of condomless anal intercourse in the previous three months. These findings confirm a high prevalence of child sexual abuse among Latino men who have sex with men and associations between child sexual abuse and adulthood depressive symptoms, high-risk alcohol consumption, and sexual risk behaviors. We recommend that providers who serve Latino men who have sex with men incorporate child sexual abuse screenings into mental health, HIV prevention, and substance use treatment programs, utilizing approaches that are inclusive of resilience.     

Longitudinal relations of preschoolers’ dispositional and situational anger to their prosocial behavior: The moderating role of shyness

Generally, research on children’s anger and prosocial outcomes has been inconsistent, perhaps because researchers have overlooked nuances in children’s anger, such as whether the emotion is situational versus dispositional or is in response to blocked goals versus violations of moral principles (e.g., unfairness). Additionally, mixed findings may be due to potential moderators such as shyness. In this study, we investigated the unique relations of children’s (n = 192, 54.7% boys; M_age = 41.75 months) dispositional and situational anger in response to unfairness at 42 months old to their prosocial behavior toward strangers a year later. Further, we examined whether children’s shyness moderated the relations. Longitudinal models controlling for stability of the constructs showed that dispositional anger was unrelated to prosocial behavior whereas situational anger positively predicted later prosocial behavior. Further, children’s shyness moderated the relation between situational anger (but not dispositional anger) and prosocial behavior. For shy children, prosocial behavior toward strangers was low, regardless of anger; for those who were low or average in shyness, situational anger positively predicted prosocial behavior. The findings suggest that when children are not too shy to approach strangers, anger in response to unfairness may be an important precursor for later other‐oriented moral tendencies.     

The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation

This article reviews current literature examining associations between components of the family context and children and adolescents' emotion regulation (ER). The review is organized around a tripartite model of familial influence. Firstly, it is posited that children learn about ER through observational learning, modeling and social referencing. Secondly, parenting practices specifically related to emotion and emotion management affect ER. Thirdly, ER is affected by the emotional climate of the family via parenting style, the attachment relationship, family expressiveness and the marital relationship. The review ends with discussions regarding the ways in which child characteristics such as negative emotionality and gender affect ER, how socialization practices change as children develop into adolescents, and how parent characteristics such as mental health affect the socialization of ER.