Perceptions of vocational trainees on gender and racial disadvantage within the Thames vocational training programme.
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BACKGROUND: A recent report has suggested that vocational trainees within London experienced racial or gender disadvantage during their selection. This exploratory study did not investigate the extent or the nature of this disadvantage. AIM: To undertake a survey using a pre-tested questionnaire with dental vocational trainees on the Thames Scheme. The questionnaire explored perceived and experienced aspects of gender and racial disadvantage during their vocational training programme. RESULTS: 127 trainees completed the questionnaire (response rate 92%). Minority ethnic respondents were more than twice as likely to feel their selection was influenced by gender (odds ratio [OR] 2.25, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.02, 5.10) and more than three times likely to feel selection was influenced by their race when compared with their white colleagues (OR 3.05, 95%; CI 1.01,11.45). The majority of trainees did not perceive any disadvantage whilst on the vocational training course. For example, only five respondents (4%) felt that minority ethnic individuals were treated less favourably during the vocational training course. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this preliminary study has attempted to explore inter-ethnic differences within the profession on perceived racial disadvantage and possible strategies for change. It is clear that the perception of disadvantage is greater than the reality within the experience of most trainees. (+info)
Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States.
(26/1365)
OBJECTIVES: Recent studies suggest that lesbians and gay men are at higher risk for stress-sensitive psychiatric disorders than are heterosexual persons. We examined the possible role of perceived discrimination in generating that risk. METHODS: The National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, a nationally representative sample of adults aged 25 to 74 years, surveyed individuals self-identifying as homosexual or bisexual (n = 73) or heterosexual (n = 2844) about their lifetime and day-to-day experiences with discrimination. Also assessed were 1-year prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and substance dependence disorders; current psychologic distress; and self-rated mental health. RESULTS: Homosexual and bisexual individuals more frequently than heterosexual persons reported both lifetime and day-to-day experiences with discrimination. Approximately 42% attributed this to their sexual orientation, in whole or part. Perceived discrimination was positively associated with both harmful effects on quality of life and indicators of psychiatric morbidity in the total sample. Controlling for differences in discrimination experiences attenuated observed associations between psychiatric morbidity and sexual orientation. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of discrimination may underlie recent observations of greater psychiatric morbidity risk among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. (+info)
Developmental differences in children's use of rating scales.
(27/1365)
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of child age and number of response choices on children's tendency to respond at the extremes of Likert-type scales rating emotional states. METHODS: Sixty children (5-6 years, 7-9 years, 10-12 years) were randomly assigned to use either three or five response choices in providing ratings in three different task conditions. Tasks were designed to have correct choices at the midpoints of the rating scales. Children also completed a self-report feelings questionnaire. RESULTS: Results showed that younger children responded in an extreme manner when rating emotion-based, but not physical, tasks. Children's extreme scores did not vary as a function of number of response choices used. More extreme scores on the three tasks were related to more extreme scores on the feelings questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that young children may respond in an extreme manner when rating emotional states. Researchers and clinicians should take this into account when interpreting children's self-reporting ratings. (+info)
A compensatory mirror cortical mechanism for facial affect processing in schizophrenia.
(28/1365)
When primates passively observe other subjects perform specific gestures or actions, premotor and motor cortical areas involved in the internal representation and actual execution of those actions exhibit neuronal activation. This mirror mechanism matches observation, representation, and execution, facilitating internal motor rehearsal, imitation, recognition of actions by others and their meanings, and social learning. Schizophrenic patients have deficits in processing affect displayed by other people's faces, which likely relates to the poor social adaptation and functioning seen in the condition. We hypothesized that, when correctly performing working-memory tasks requiring facial affect processing, schizophrenic patients would show relative increased activity in brain areas involved in social learning and in the internal representation of facial expressions when compared to controls. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenic patients and normal controls to detect relative changes of blood flow in cortical areas related to the representation of facial expressions while the subjects performed simple working-memory tasks with facial emotion diagrams or color circles as cues. We found that, when the task cues were facial expressions in contrast to color circles, the schizophrenic group exhibited increased activation of the face movement areas in motor and pre-motor cortex. (+info)
Neuropsychological functioning as a moderator of the relationship between psychosocial functioning and the subjective experience of self and life in schizophrenia.
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Psychosocial interventions and models of quality of life in schizophrenia are based on the notion that increases in psychosocial functioning will be related to improvements in subjective experience outcomes such as self-esteem and satisfaction with life. However, studies have repeatedly failed to demonstrate a direct relationship between psychosocial functioning and subjective experience in schizophrenia. This study of 40 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia examined whether neurocognitive measures of executive functioning moderated the relationship between psychosocial functioning and subjective experience. Subjective experience was represented by measures of satisfaction with life and self-esteem. The Global Assessment Scale measured psychosocial functioning, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test measured executive functioning. Multiple regression and correlation analyses indicated that executive functioning was a strong moderator. Specifically, individuals with schizophrenia with impaired executive functioning displayed a positive and statistically significant association between psychosocial functioning and both measures of subjective experience (r = 0.55 and 0.61). However, among schizophrenia patients with intact executive performance, psychosocial functioning was negatively associated with self-esteem and satisfaction with life (r = -0.24 and -0.46). And the findings were internally replicated using two other neuropsychological measures relevant to executive functioning. These findings indicate that executive functioning plays a major role in moderating the relationship between subjective experience and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. Implications for biosocial models, psychosocial interventions, and models of quality of life in schizophrenia are discussed. (+info)
Teens' images of smoking and smokers.
(30/1365)
The authors used qualitative and quantitative data to identify and interpret specific images teens have about smoking and smokers. Qualitative data were collected in 1996 from 793 teenagers participating in 125 focus groups at eight different sites across the United States. Most focus groups were homogeneous with respect to gender, ethnicity, and smoking status. Ages ranged from 12 to 18 years, and about half of the participants were female. The majority of participants (62%) were white and African American, the remainder (38%) were Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander. Groups were comprised of smoking and nonsmoking teens. Focus group activities were used to elicit image-related discussions about attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of smoking. Investigators identified seven consistent and distinctive image themes: Appearance (smoking is dirty and unattractive), Activity (nonsmokers have busy, active lives), Drugs and sex (smokers are substance abusers and are sexually active), Rebellion (smokers belong to rebellious groups), Affect (smokers are depressed, angry, and stressed-out), In control (nonsmokers have self-control and are independent), and Pride (nonsmokers are proud of themselves, their families, and their heritage). A large scale, multi-site qualitative research approach can increase understanding of teen smoking. The identification of distinctive images of smoking can help researchers develop more sophisticated models of the processes of teen smoking than currently exist. (+info)
Cigarette smoking and adolescents: messages they see and hear.
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Cigarette smoking is the primary preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in the US. But in the mid-1990s, more than one-third of US teenagers were smokers, despite their awareness of the health risks and negative consequences of tobacco use. In 1996, as part of a three-year qualitative study to explore differences in adolescent smoking by gender and ethnicity, members of the Tobacco Control Network examined messages that teens receive about cigarette smoking. Consisting of 178 focus groups with 1,175 teenagers covering all levels of smoking experience, the study included teens from five ethnic groups, stratified by gender and ethnicity, from urban and rural areas across the US. The authors reviewed the sources and content of messages that teens reported were most influential in their decisions to smoke or not smoke cigarettes. Family and peers, school, television, and movies were the primary sources for both pro- and anti-smoking messages. The authors conclude that a lack of clear, consistent antismoking messages leaves teens vulnerable to the influences of pro-smoking messages from a variety of sources. Interventions need to be culture- and gender-specific. Family-based interventions appear to be needed and efficacious, but resource intensive. Building self-esteem may prove to be a promising intervention. (+info)
Multidimensional latent-construct analysis of children's social information processing patterns: correlations with aggressive behavior problems.
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Social information processing (SIP) patterns were conceptualized in orthogonal domains of process and context and measured through responses to hypothetical vignettes in a stratified sample of 387 children (50% boys; 49% minority) from 4 geographical sites followed from kindergarten through 3rd grade. Multidimensional, latent-construct, confirmatory factor analyses supported the within-construct internal consistency, cross-construct discrimination, and multidimensionality of SIP patterns. Contrasts among nested structural equation models indicated that SIP constructs significantly predicted children's aggressive behavior problems as measured by later teacher reports. The findings support the multidimensional construct validity of children's social cognitive patterns and the relevance of SIP patterns in children's aggressive behavior problems. (+info)