Impact of mindful self-care and perceived stress on the health related quality of life among young-adult students in West Virginia

ABSTRACT

There are substantial gaps in research on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in students aged 18 and above in West Virginia. The purpose of this study is to explore the associations between mindful self-care, perceived stress, and the HRQoL in this population. We conducted a cross-sectional study between March and April 2017. We included participants who were students, aged 18 years and above, living in West Virginia and were able to answer online questions in English. Data was obtained from an online survey using a structured questionnaire, including the SF12v2®, mindful self-care scale- SHORT, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)-10. We applied linear regressions to determine the predictors of HRQoL (physical health and mental health) using SF12v2®. 194 participants met the inclusion criteria of the study. Mindful self-care was negatively associated with perceived stress. Better mindful self-care mediated the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being, controlling for gender, age, race, marital status, education level, annual household income, and chronic disease status. Perceived stress and mindful self-care were not related to the physical well-being. Better mindful self-care may safeguard against perceived stress among students aged 18 years and above. Our findings in this study recommend more mindfulness-based interventions targeted to this subpopulation to improve psychological well-being.     

Roles of organizers and champions in building campus-community prevention partnerships

OBJECTIVE: A campus-community partnership can be an effective vehicle for launching environmental strategies to prevent college alcohol-related problems. In this study, the authors' primary aim was identifying key factors that facilitate or impede colleges' efforts to build campus-community partnerships. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: From fall 2004 to summer 2006, administrators at five 4-year colleges participated in a multisite case study. Level of partnership development was the primary outcome. RESULTS: Three interrelated factors facilitated higher-developed partnerships: college staff assigned to facilitate the partnerships who worked as community organizers, higher-level college administrators who served as aggressive champions, and community initiation of the partnership. The authors did not observe this trio of factors among the less-developed partnerships. A lack of administrative support made it more difficult for a champion to emerge, a college administrator who staunchly advocated for a campus-community partnership, and for those assigned to facilitate the partnership to carry out their work. CONCLUSIONS: Colleges should appoint higher-level administrators to serve as champions, while also ensuring that those assigned to facilitate a partnership can apply community organizing skills.     

Transnational Intersectionality in Family Therapy With Resettled Refugees

In this article, we discuss incorporating the transnational intersectionality framework in family therapy with resettled refugees. Transnational intersectionality is an extension of the framework of intersectionality which helps to better understand complexities of power and oppression across national contexts and their influence on refugees' lives. Adopting this framework alerts family therapists to: (a) develop critical awareness of refugee's transnational contexts; (b) understand differences in experiences of social identities across contexts; (c) acknowledge postmigration factors of oppression affecting resettlement; and (d) critically reflect upon therapist–interpreter–client intersectionalities. This shifts our conceptualization of therapy with refugees to actively consider transnational contexts which refugees uniquely occupy. We describe the framework and provide two case illustrations to highlight its usefulness.     

Relational Ethics,Depressive Symptoms,and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples in Therapy

The purpose of this study was to examine depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction as problems related to relational ethics in one's family of origin and current partner relationships in a sample of 68 other‐sex couples seeking therapy at a large university clinic. We used the Actor Partner Interdependence Model to analyze dyadic data collected prior to beginning therapy. Specifically, we found significant actor effects between relational ethics in one's family of origin and depressive symptoms, as well as between depressive symptoms and low relationship satisfaction for both male and female partners. We also found significant partner effects for relational ethics in current partner relationship, depressive symptoms, and low relationship satisfaction. Clinical application of contextual therapy theory is discussed.     

PORTFOLIO MODELS WITH STOCHASTIC CASH DEMAND,BORROWING AND FIXED TRANSFER COSTS

Portfolio models of the Markowitz-Tobin type implicitly assume that the investor does not have to liquidate any part of his portfolio to meet some exogenous cash demand. Since liquidity needs can be an important factor in portfolio management, Chen, Jen, and Zionts [3] in a recent paper developed a model assuming stochastic demand for cash and the possibility of meeting the cash demand by liquidating one or more assets. However, borrowing is an important alternative to liquidating assets. This paper considers that possibility. Unlike Chen, Jen, and Zionts, this paper also considers the more difficult question of liquidation costs being partly fixed and partly variable. In order to make the consideration of borrowing and fixed transfer costs mathematically tractable, the problem is first cast in a framework different from that of [3].     

Evaluating the human resource related soft dimensions in green supply chain management implementation

Because of increased carbon emissions, environmental protection initiatives have gained significant attention at global level. One of the major initiatives taken by the industrial sector to minimize the negative environmental effect of the value chain activities is Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). In industry, soft (human resource-related) dimensions influence the implementation of GSCM process greatly. In the literature, relatively less discussion is provided on assessing the significance of soft dimensions in efficient GSCM acceptance in industry. The present work is an attempt to construct a structural framework for assessing the significance of the soft dimensions in adopting GSCM concepts by taking a case of automotive company in India. A hybrid approach of Best Worst Method (BWM) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach is employed in this work. BWM is used to prioritize the GSCM oriented soft dimensions, and DEMATEL is employed to extract interrelationships among them. The result shows that ‘Top management commitment’, ‘Employee involvement’, ‘Organizational culture’ and ‘Teamwork’ are the highly prioritized causal soft dimensions in efficient GSCM adoption. This research work would help industry managers and practitioners to decide where to concentrate for GSCM concepts in context of soft dimensions for sustainable business development.     

Toward a reconceptualization of "choice": challenges by women at the margins

It has been suggested that recent first world and third world feminist movements have gained impetus from a shared emphasis on "body politics" (abortion, rape, and domestic violence). It has been made clear by other writers, however, that first and third world women (including women of color in the first world) have very different conceptions of which policies and practices should be pursued to change their reproduction experiences (because the overriding experiences of their entire lives are so very different). Likewise, the concept of "the right to choose" has been challenged on the grounds that it ignores the external conditions (such as economics) which, in fact, dictate "choice." Eugenics also influences which "choices" are promoted among populations considered "undesirable." The dilemmas associated with reproductive choices are further highlighted by debate about the use of amniocentesis in India for sex determination and female feticide. At the center of this debate is whether calling for a ban on this practice would support or violate a woman's choice. The rhetoric of choice arose in the first place because women who wanted to end a pregnancy had "no choice" but to seek illegal abortions. However, working class women and Black women in the US object to the narrowness in the abortion rights agenda dictated by the use of this term. To assert women's "choice" absolves all others of the responsibility for a pregnancy. The "choice" concept is also vulnerable to political manipulation. "Choice" also evades ethical problems such as sex selection. Disabled feminists have also pointed out that it is as important to create conditions which include "the choice to have a disabled child" as it is to choose not to be a mother. Can feminists oppose the selective abortion of female fetuses while leaving the choice to abort a defective or unwanted fetus of either sex up to the mother? Objection to sex determination can be categorized as consequentialist (based on various predicted social and psychological consequences, such as more men would lead to more violence in the world) or nonconsequentialist (based on the inherent immorality of selective abortion). The benefits of sex selection would possibly include a reduction in sex-linked diseases and a reduction in the overall birth rate. Most US feminists support the moral, but not the legal, condemnation of sex selection. In India, where sex selection is openly practiced, feminists have tried to achieve legal prohibition of the use of tests for this purpose. This difference from the US position may be due to the difference in the abortion context in the 2 countries. Whether feminists support legal and/or moral prohibition of sex selection, however, almost all call for the longterm structural changes which must be made in the context of imperialism, racism, and poverty which would allow true "choices" to prevail.     

Into the Mainstream? Labor Market Outcomes of Mexican-Origin Workers

We evaluate recent revisions of assimilation theory by comparing the labor market performance of Mexican immigrants and their descendents to those of native white and black Americans. Using the Current Population Survey Contingent Worker Series, we examine public and non-standard employment and fringe benefits in addition to earnings. We find little evidence that Mexican Americans cluster in non-standard work, noting instead intergenerational improvement in benefits and pay. However, all Mexican-origin workers are disadvantaged relative to native whites in terms of benefits. It is only within the public sector that the labor market outcomes of Mexican-origin workers converge with native whites.     

Framing perceptions of oil development and social disruption

This paper examines the perceived relationship between the presence and growth of the offshore oil industry in Louisiana and patterns of social disruption, particularly crime. Interview data were obtained from long-time residents in the coastal region of Louisiana, and a social constructionist perspective was used to frame the perceptions of these individuals (N = 94). Much previous research on the effects offshore oil development and its cyclical expansion and contraction has been premised on a boom/bust social impact model reflecting the experience of resource extraction in communities in the Western United States. In contrast to this literature, we found our subjects perceived far less in the way of disorganizing effects of oil development, and for the most part suggested the impacts to be either benign or positive. There was little support for a boom/bust model of community disruption, and thus we suggest research in this area consider alternative paradigms of interpretation of social impact.     

A Phenomenological Study of Family Experiences of Resettled Iraqi Refugees

Using a cross‐sectional, phenomenological design, this qualitative study sought to explore Iraqi refugees’ experiences of family relationships resettled in a northeastern city in the United States after the start of the 2003 war. Participants’ experience of family relationships was situated within the context of their displacement, which included fear and uncertainty during displacement, and experiences of safety and isolation during resettlement. Themes related to family relationships were as follows: shared experiences of losses; increased trust between family members; shifts in communication and gender roles; and constructing a family legacy. Findings from this study indicate that family relationships play a central role in making meaning of forced displacement and resettlement experiences, which have significant clinical implications for family therapists working with refugees.