“Post-Gay” Yet? The Relevance of the Lesbian and Gay Scene to Same-Sex Attracted Young People in Contemporary Australia

In recent years, the lesbian and gay “scene” of bars, nightclubs, and dance parties has been undergoing a structural decline in many Western cities. This article aimed to examine the relevance of the scene to same-sex attracted young adults amid these changes. An online survey was conducted with 572 same-sex attracted young women and men in Sydney. Only a minority of respondents participated in the scene at least weekly (16%), and the majority did not regard the scene as important to their leisure time (60%). However, respondents valued the scene as a space to connect with other same-sex attracted people and display same-sex affection without fear of hostility. Lesbian and gay identified respondents tended to be more socially engaged with the scene compared to other same-sex attracted respondents. The findings suggest that while the scene continues to be valued by many same-sex attracted young people, improved social attitudes have made participating in the scene less of an imperative.     

Randomized controlled trial of the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with undergraduate university students

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students. Participants: College students (aged 18–23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester. Methods: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed. Results. RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students.     

Family court ordered “reunification therapy:” junk science in the guise of helping parent/child relationships?

This Commentary addresses the issue of the ethics of mental health professionals recommending or doing what family courts and some others are calling “Reunification Therapy.” This is often being recommended and used across the country, and ordered by family courts, as if it has a scientific basis for successful therapy between an estranged parent and a child who does not wish to re-engage with that parent, often where the child has alleged the parent has abused them physically, sexually, or psychologically. This Commentary challenges the ethics and validity of such approaches and programs.     

Family and school capital explaining regional variation in math and reading achievement

We know that inequality varies by region and also begins early in life. Bivariate data suggest that 5–14-year-old children in the 1994 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) score differently in reading and mathematics achievement depending on their region, with children in the South and West scoring lower. We combine literatures on regional bases of inequality and family and school capital to generate hypotheses explaining these differences. Analyses of covariance provide supportive evidence. For both outcomes among boys, the variation is explained by additive models including family and child social and human capital, although selected aspects of school capital are also influential; these models also explain math achievement among girls. A model including both additive and interactive effects explains regional differences in reading achievement for girls. We interpret these findings in terms of their implications for studying inequality in child achievement as well as for emphasizing the importance of regional inequality, particularly beyond the South versus non-South distinction.     

Title Index

Abstract

This article describes how electronic resources have impacted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries' binding operation and how the libraries have responded to the resulting challenges, including the need for updated collection development and preservation/conservation policies, a comprehensive bindery contract, and a fully functional in-house binding capability. The evaluation of the binding process must continue as libraries move from a predominantly print to a predominantly electronic environment. Librarians, scholars, and binders should work together to preserve and bind library collections that will be valuable to future generations.