The Involvement of a Concerned Significant Other in Gambling Disorder Treatment Outcome

Interpersonal distress is a common feature in gambling disorder and adding a concerned significant other (CSO) to the recovery process could be an effective tool for improving treatment outcome. However, little empirical evidence is available regarding the effectiveness of including a CSO to interventions. We aimed to compare treatment outcomes (i.e. compliance with therapy guidelines, dropout from treatment, and relapse during treatment) in a CBT program involving a CSO to CBT treatment as usual (TAU) without a CSO. The sample comprised male gambling disorder patients (N = 675). The manualized CBT intervention consisted of 16 weekly outpatient group sessions and a 3-month follow-up period. Patient CSOs attended a predetermined number of sessions with the patient and were provided with resources to acquire a better understanding of the disorder, to manage risk situations, and to aid patients in adhering to treatment guidelines. Patients with a CSO had significant higher treatment attendance and reduced dropout compared to patients receiving TAU. Moreover, patients whose spouse was involved in the treatment program were less likely to relapse and adhered to the treatment guidelines more than those with a non-spousal CSO. Our results suggest that incorporating interpersonal support to gambling disorder interventions could potentially improve treatment outcomes.     

Memories of Conflict and Present-Day Struggles in Europe: New Tensions between Corporatism,Class, and Social Movements

This lecture addresses the connection between the production in the present of particular memories of the past and the ability to frame present-day conflicts in ways that render certain possibilities legitimate while excluding others. Through the ethnographic material I have gathered during my career I will show how different projects of the future (personal and collective) appeal to memories of conflict that link responsibilities and generations at different scales. Taking as my object of observation the transformations in economic relations in a heavy industrial region of northwestern Spain I will trace the connections between the languages and practices of contention, the reconfigured structures of production and governance, and the production of diverse memories (and silences) of conflict. Diverse memories produce struggles framed in class terms, or struggles framed in terms of corporatist interests, or in terms of contingently defined social claims. Through this often ambivalent delimitation of conflicts between past and present, the field of possible futures gets configured and with it the spectrum of possible political action.     

Bioactive compounds of the Mediterranean diet and prostate cancer

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this review is to examine the evidence on the effects of bioactive constituents of the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) on prostate cancer (PCa) risk.

Methods: The search for articles came from extensive research in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. We used the search terms “Mediterranean diet,” “lycopene,” “vitamin E,” “vitamin C,” “Selenium,” “resveratrol,” “prostate cancer,” and combinations, such as “lycopene and prostate cancer” or “resveratrol and prostate cancer.”

Results: Numerous studies investigating the effect of various dietary nutrients on PCa have suggested that selenium is probably the most promising. Several studies reported reduced PCa risk associated with vitamin C and E intake, while other studies reported no association. Lycopene inhibits cell proliferation and inducts apoptosis, thus protecting against cancer. Also, it has been found in various in vivo and in vitro studies that resveratrol, inhibits PCa development.

Conclusions: The high content of bioactive phytochemicals in the MeDi is of particular interest in the prevention of PCa. Further large-scale studies are required to clarify the effect of MeDi bioactive compounds on prostate health, in order to establish the role of this diet in the prevention of PCa.     

"I No Like Get Caught Using Drugs": Explanations for Refusal as a Drug Resistance Strategy for Rural Native Hawaiian Youth

This exploratory study examined the use of explanations for refusal as a drug resistance strategy for rural Native Hawaiian youth. Fourteen gender-specific focus groups were conducted within seven middle or intermediate schools on the Island of Hawai'i (N = 64). Participants were asked to describe drug resistance strategies in response to 15 hypothetical culturally specific drug-related problem scenarios developed from earlier research. The findings indicate that variations in the types of explanations used for refusal were based on the type of drug offerer in the associated scenario (i.e., peer/friend, cousin, or parent). Participants also described the rationales for the use of different explanations with different drug offerers. The findings suggest that culturally grounded drug prevention programs for Hawaiian youth should incorporate the use of specific types of explanations for refusal, depending on the youths' relationship to the drug offerer.     

Strengthening Australian Families: Socioeconomic Status,Social Connectedness,and Family Functioning

Abstract

Social connectedness has been promoted as one factor that may facilitate optimal functioning for families experiencing economic adversity. Using data from 218 Australian families, the current study explored the relative importance of social connectedness to the functioning of economically diverse families. Overall, results indicated similar levels of social connectedness and family functioning across low- and high-income groups. However, important differences were identified with regards to the relative contribution of social connectedness to the functioning of families across the economic spectrum. Clinical implications arising from these findings include the potential benefit of exploring social connectedness as a routine part of clinical assessment and ongoing intervention for families experiencing economic vulnerability.     

People and Pixels 20 years later: the current data landscape and research trends blending population and environmental data

Population and Environment - In 1998, the National Research Council published People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science. The volume focused on emerging research linking changes...     

Regional differences in gender—role attitudes: Variations by gender and race

In this paper, we use data from the General Social Survey (1985–1998) to examine the effects of region on gender-role attitudes, focusing on variations across time by gender and race. Regional differences in gender-role attitudes persisted into the 1990s for white men and women, with southern whites holding more traditional attitudes than those held by whites in other parts of the country. For white men and women and for black men, the effect of region changed little between the 1980s and 1990s. However, for black women, region was a prominent factor affecting their gender-role attitudes in the 1980s, but by the 1990s its effect had diminished considerably.     

The Impact of the Madrid Bombing on Personal Emotions, Emotional Atmosphere and Emotional Climate

This article analyzes the personal emotions, emotional atmosphere, and emotional climate in Spain both one week and two months after the terrorist attacks that took place in Madrid on March 11, 2004. It also examines the relationship among these variables and their effect on various behaviors. Participants consisted of 1,807 people from seven autonomous regions in Spain with a mean age of 27.64 years. Personal emotions were significantly affected by degree of Spanish identification. These personal emotions and the general emotional atmosphere were characterized by high levels of sadness, disgust, anger, and contempt, as well as (to a lesser degree) fear. Personal emotions, emotional atmosphere, and the nation's emotional climate improved after two months, although a high degree of sadness persisted in the atmosphere. The emotional climate was relatively independent and stable. Personal emotions had a low but significant capacity for predicting avoidant and altruistic behaviors. Measures of emotional climate added to this ability to predict specific avoidant and altruistic behavior.     

Learning and transforming reality: women from Rosario’s neighborhoods demand access to public health services free of discrimination

This article focuses on the activities of two women’s groups in Argentina—CLADEM and INSGENAR. CLADEM, which has a much broader presence in Latin America, aims to give a feminist perspective to the construction of real democracies with social justice, free of discrimination and with full exercise of human rights. INSGENAR is a local, non‐governmental organization based in Rosario in the Province of Santa Fe, one of the provincial chapters of CLADEM‐Argentina. We describe the human rights workshops that have been conducted with women in the past few years and their transformative impact.