Pair housing of macaques has become a widely implemented compromise between meeting the social needs of the monkeys and allowing for their use in biomedical research. While beneficial to the animals, pair housing can provide challenges for those caring for them. Drawing from both scientific literature and direct experience, this paper provides a review of practical aspects of pair housing including partner selection, pairing methodologies, staff education, and equipment considerations. Recommendations include selecting a pairing method appropriate to the facility and the individual animals being paired, educating staff on social behavior, and establishing a pair monitoring program to facilitate long-term pair maintenance. Assessment of behavior is essential in determining the compatibility of new pairs and in identifying established pairs that may need interventions to enhance their long-term compatibility. The pair housing program at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center is described as one model of a successful program.
The purpose of the present study was to assess the stability of locus of control (LOC) scores over time using data gathered from tests constructed to be consistent with Rotter's definition of LOC. We compared LOC scores of parents (measured prior to the birth of the index child and at 6 and 18 years later) and their offspring (at ages 8 and 16) to explore how stable adult and child LOC was over time and to see how parental LOC was associated with the LOC of the child aged 8 and again at 16. Locus of control was measured using modified versions of adult (ANSIE, Nowicki and Duke, 1974) and child (CNSIE, Nowicki and Strickland, 1973) LOC scales, administered to participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the United Kingdom. We predicted that: (1) adult scores would be more stable than children's and (2) parents' and children's LOC scores would be related to one another. Analyses of the data found that individual's LOC scores were significantly associated over time, with adult scores (r ~ 0.50) more highly correlated than children's (r ~ 0.20). Correlations suggest more stability for adults than children, but also indicate the occurrence of substantial change across time. Although statistically significant, correlations between family members were small at both childhood and adolescent time points. Additional analyses suggested that mother and father LOC scores were more highly correlated with opposite rather than with same sex children, but again though significant the coefficients were small. We also analyzed the binary outcomes of externality to assess parental contributions to externality in the 8 and 16-year-old children and found correlations were significant, but small. Possible explanations are offered for why the associations between parent and child LOC were not higher. We concluded that researchers need to focus more on clarifying how children's LOC is acquired.
Although research has shown that mothers significantly influence daughters' willingness to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), cultural factors influencing immigrant Haitian mothers' willingness to have adolescent daughters to be vaccinated are unknown. This is of concern as this population experiences disproportionately higher rates of HPV infection and related cervical cancers. This study identifies cultural beliefs influencing 31 immigrant Haitian mothers' willingness to vaccinate their daughters against HPV using semistructured interviews. Mothers had low levels of HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge, and desired more information. Concerns centered on cultural values regarding adolescent sexuality and HIV/AIDS stigmas specific to Haitian communities. If vaccination were recommended by a physician, mothers are more likely to have their daughters vaccinated. HPV vaccination uptake efforts targeting Haitian months should emphasize physician involvement and incorporate culturally relevant health concerns.
Background
Suicide rates in rural China are two-fold to three-fold those in urban China but the reasons for this large difference remain unclear.
Aim
Assess the characteristics and risk factors of medically serious suicide attempts in rural China.
Methods
A comprehensive 2 to 3 hour structured interview was administered by psychiatrists to 297 medically serious suicide attempters (defined as those who remained in hospital for 6 hours or longer) treated in the emergency room of the People's Hospital of Yuncheng County in Shandong Province and, separately, to their accompanying co-resident family members. A parallel interview was administered to control subjects matched for age and gender from the same village who had never made a suicide attempt and to their co-resident family members. Risk factors for attempted suicide were identified using Cox regression models.
Results
Among the 297 suicide attempters, 74% were female, 78% were farmers, their mean (sd) age was 33.2 (14.6) years, their mean length of formal schooling was 4.8 (3.1) years, 80% had attempted suicide by ingesting pesticides, 57% reported considering suicide for five minutes or less before acting, 76% had a score of less than 50 (range, 0 to 100) on the planning subscale of the Suicide Intent Scale, 11% had made prior attempts, and only 38% met DSM-IV criteria for a current mental disorder. After controlling for gender, age, location of residence and prior suicide attempt (in the matched analysis), risk factors identified in the multivariate analysis included a low level of education, having relatives or associates with prior suicidal behavior, experiencing four or more negative life events in the prior year, a low quality of life and low family cohesion over the prior month, high depressive symptom scores over the prior two weeks, and (only assessed in a subsample) high impulsivity and aggression.
Conclusion
Many of the medically treated suicide attempts in rural China are low-intent attempts by the ingestion of pesticides in persons who do not meet criteria of a mental disorder but have high levels of impulsiveness and aggression. This profile is different from that seen in high-income countries so it will require a different approach to the prevention of suicidal behavior, an approach that is less focused on the identification and treatment of mental disorders and more focused on limiting access to agricultural poisons and training impulsive individuals about self-regulation of their emotions and behaviors.
Background
Attitudes and knowledge about suicide may influence psychiatrists’ management of suicidal patients but there has been little research about this issue in China.
Methods
We used the Scale of Public Attitudes about Suicide (SPAS) – a 47-item scale developed and validated in China – to assess knowledge about suicide and seven specific attitudes about suicide in a sample of 187 psychiatrists from six psychiatric hospitals in Shanghai. The results were compared to those of 548 urban community members (assessed in a previous study).
Results
Compared to urban community members, psychiatrists were more likely to believe that suicide can be prevented and that suicide is an important social problem but they had more stigmatizing beliefs about suicidal individuals and felt less empathy for them. The belief that suicide can be prevented was more common among female psychiatrists than male psychiatrists but male psychiatrists felt more empathy for suicidal individuals. Only 37% of the psychiatrists correctly agreed that talking about suicide-related issues with an individual would not precipitate suicidal behavior and only 41% correctly agreed that those who state that they intend to kill themselves may actually do so.
Conclusions
Many psychiatrists in Shanghai harbor negative attitudes about suicidal individuals and are concerned that directly addressing the issue with patients will increase the risk of suicide. Demographic factors, educational status and work experience are associated with psychiatrists’ attitudes about suicide and, thus, need to be considered when training psychiatrists about suicide prevention.
Objective:To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes in postnatal growth-restricted infants born <29 weeks with and without postnatal head-sparing (PHS).Study Design:We analyzed developmental outcomes at 2 years of age among postnatally growth-restricted infants with and without head-sparing. The primary outcome was Bayley III cognitive composite score; secondary outcomes included Bayley III motor composite score, moderate/severe cerebral palsy, gross motor functional classification scale level≥2, and presence or absence of neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI).Results:Of 1098 infants evaluated at 18 to 22 months, 658 were postnatally growth restricted, of whom 301 had head-sparing. In the multivariate model including independent risk factors for poor growth and poor developmental outcome, infants with head-sparing had higher adjusted motor composite scores (mean difference 4.65, P<0.01), but no differences in other neurodevelopmental outcomes.Conclusion:PHS is associated with improved neurodevelopmental outcome in extremely preterm infants, specifically Bayley III motor scores, but whether beneficial effects of PHS persist later in life is unknown.
Background
The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) is a widely-used 5-item scale assessing religiosity.
Aim
Assess the internal consistency, reliability, and factor structure of the revised Chinese version of DUREL.
Methods
Using probability proportionate to size (PPS) methods we randomly identified 3981 households with eligible occupants in 20 primary sampling sites in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a province in northwest China in which 34% of the population are Muslims of the Hui ethnic group. In 3054 households a screening interview was completed and an adult family member was randomly selected; 2425 respondents completed the survey (including the DUREL) and 188 randomly selected individuals repeated the survey an average of 2.5 days later.
Results
The internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) of the 5 items in the full sample was 0.90; it ranged from 0.70 to 0.90 in various subgroups of subjects stratified by ethnicity, urban versus rural residence, and above versus below median education. The test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) for the total score in the full sample was 0.87; it ranged from 0.63 to 0.90 in the different subgroups of subjects. Exploratory factor analysis in a random half of the sample identified a single factor (eigen value=4.21) that explained 84% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis in the second half of the sample confirmed the unidimensional model; the model fit measures of the one-factor model using the 5 item scores as observed variables were acceptable (comparative fit index [CFI] and Tucker-Lewis index [TLI]>0.99; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=0.105; χ2 =70.49, df=5), but the model fit improved after adding the correlation between items 1 and 2 (that assess organized and personal religious activities, respectively) as a sixth observed variable(CFI and TLI>0.99; RMSEA=0.046; χ2 =14.32, df=4).
Conclusion
The Chinese version of the DUREL is a reliable and valid measure of religiosity that can be used to assess the relationship of religiosity/spirituality to physical and psychological wellbeing in Chinese respondents. As suggested by other authors, our factor analysis results indicate that the overall score is the best measure derived from the scale, not the three dimensional scores recommended by the original authors.
Background: There has been an increase in non-daily smoking, alternative tobacco product and marijuana use among young adults in recent years. Objectives: This study examined perceptions of health risks, addictiveness, and social acceptability of cigarettes, cigar products, smokeless tobacco, hookah, electronic cigarettes, and marijuana among young adults and correlates of such perceptions. Methods: In Spring 2013, 10,000 students at two universities in the Southeastern United States were recruited to complete an online survey (2,002 respondents), assessing personal, parental, and peer use of each product; and perceptions of health risks, addictiveness, and social acceptability of each of these products. Results: Marijuana was the most commonly used product in the past month (19.2%), with hookah being the second most commonly used (16.4%). The least commonly used were smokeless tobacco products (2.6%) and electronic cigarettes (4.5%). There were high rates of concurrent product use, particularly among electronic cigarette users. The most positively perceived was marijuana, with hookah and electronic cigarettes being second. While tobacco use and related social factors, related positively, influenced perceptions of marijuana, marijuana use and related social factors were not associated with perceptions of any tobacco product. Conclusions/Importance: Marketing efforts to promote electronic cigarettes and hookah to be safe and socially acceptable seem to be effective, while policy changes seem to be altering perceptions of marijuana and related social norms. Research is needed to document the health risks and addictive nature of emerging tobacco products and marijuana and evaluate efforts to communicate such risks to youth.
by
Maurizio Pompili;
Amresh Shrivastava;
Gianluca Serafini;
Marco Innamorati;
Mariantonietta Milelli;
Denise Erbuto;
Federica Ricci;
Dorian Lamis;
Paolo Scocco;
Mario Amore;
David Lester;
Paolo Girardi
Context:
It is estimated that approximately one in four people know someone who has taken their own life and that one suicide death leaves six or more suicide survivors.
Aims:
The aim of this paper was to review the literature regarding the association between suicide and bereavement, focusing also on the supportive and therapeutic resources available for survivors.
Materials and Methods:
Careful MedLine and PsycINFO searches for the period 1980-2013.
Results:
The review of the literature indicates that emotional turmoil in suicide survivors may last a long time and, in some cases, may end with their own suicide.
Conclusion:
Future research should evaluate the efficacy of professional treatments and of support groups targeting suicide survivors.
Practice Implications:
It is crucial to understand the bereavement process after the suicide of a significant other in order to provide proper care, reduce stigma, and improve the outcomes of related psychiatric conditions.
Contact directed by uninvolved bystanders toward others in distress, often termed consolation, is uncommon in the animal kingdom, thus far only demonstrated in the great apes, canines, and corvids. Whereas the typical agonistic context of such contact is relatively rare within natural elephant families, other causes of distress may trigger similar, other-regarding responses. In a study carried out at an elephant camp in Thailand, we found that elephants affiliated significantly more with other individuals through directed, physical contact and vocal communication following a distress event than in control periods. In addition, bystanders affiliated with each other, and matched the behavior and emotional state of the first distressed individual, suggesting emotional contagion. The initial distress responses were overwhelmingly directed toward ambiguous stimuli, thus making it difficult to determine if bystanders reacted to the distressed individual or showed a delayed response to the same stimulus. Nonetheless, the directionality of the contacts and their nature strongly suggest attention toward the emotional states of conspecifics. The elephants’ behavior is therefore best classified with similar consolation responses by apes, possibly based on convergent evolution of empathic capacities.