DEPRESSION AMONG ETHNICALLY DIVERSE OLDER WOMEN: THE ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND COGNITIVE FACTORS

Research has identified a strong relationship between depression and demographic factors such as income and widowed status. Prior studies have also linked common cognitive “slips” to depressive symptomatology. However, very little research has investigated these relationships with respect to the older adult population, particularly within ethnic minorities. To address this gap in the literature, the present study examined the contribution of demographic and cognitive factors to depressive symptomatology among 228 noninstitutionalized women (60 years of age or older) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The findings identified a significant relationship between depressive symptomatology and cognitive failure, low income, and Middle-Eastern or American-Indian descent.     

Pilot Testing a New Short Screen for the Assessment of Older Women's PTSD Symptomatology

It is difficult for busy health care providers to perform routine screening for older women's posttraumatic stress symptomatology. This difficulty is due, at least partially, to a paucity of instruments specifically tested on such a population. To address this issue, in this preliminary study we tested an abbreviated screen from the set of 20 items comprising the Distressing Event Questionnaire (DEQ; Kubany, Leisen, Kaplan, & Kelly, 2000a Kubany , S. E. , Leisen , M. B. , Kaplan , A. S. , & Kelly , M. P. ( 2000a ). Validation of a brief measure of PTSD: The Distressing Event Questionnaire . Psychological Assessment , 12 ( 2 ), 197 – 209 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) on a convenience sample of 94 ethnically diverse older women (age 52–105). This new five-item derivation, named Brief Posttraumatic Stress Screening Scale (BPSSS), assesses posttraumatic stress based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994 American Psychiatric Association . ( 1994 ). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders , (4th ed.) . Washington , DC : American Psychiatric Press . [Google Scholar]). Its conciseness reduces the likelihood that older women would become fatigued during assessment, making it ideal for use in busy health care settings. In view of the hypothesized cohesiveness of the tool's five items, we expected the screen to be reliable. Because the BPSSS has only five items, a single factor was hypothesized to account for a large proportion of the variance in its items. We also expected that scores on the screen would correlate (to a certain extent) with those on measures of depression and perceived stress of a nontraumatic and nonmedical nature. A standardized alpha of .86 demonstrated high internal consistency of the BPSSS, and the exploratory factor analysis showed that one factor accounted for 58% of the five items' variance. Moreover, the correlations of BPSSS scores with scores on nontraumatic stress and depression were moderate yet significant (r = .37, p < .01 and r = .50, p < .01, respectively).     

USING SERVICE-LEARNING RESEARCH TO ENHANCE THE ELDERLY'S QUALITY OF LIFE

Through the implementation of sound Service-Learning (SL) projects, research populations seldom involved in academic endeavors, such as the elderly, can be recruited into innovative studies that are likely to improve their quality of life. However, conducting such SL interventions, although important, may be discouraged by the multiple methodological challenges that are likely to be posed by these studies, and by the delicate nature of some of the issues in question. To address the need to develop novel SL gerontology applications, this article proposes topics for SL professors to consider for future research on older adults. Furthermore, it offers preliminary recommendations on ways to minimize the possible methodological challenges inherent in the implementation of these innovative studies, based on a new SL research model. Upper-division SL undergraduate or graduate classes could involve students in advanced SL applications to target some of the complex issues discussed herein, such as abuse (of all types) perpetrated against elderly women, and sexuality in older age. All parties involved in these prospective SL projects, including elderly clients, their health providers and administrators, students, and professors, are likely to benefit from the proposed research.     

Reconceptualising critical digital literacy

While it has proved a useful concept during the past 20 years, the notion of ‘critical digital literacy’ requires rethinking in light of the fast-changing nature of young people's digital practices. This paper contrasts long-established notions of ‘critical digital literacy’ (based primarily around the critical consumption of digital forms) with the recent turn towards ‘digital design literacy’ (based around the production of digital forms). In doing so, three challenges emerge for the continued relevance of critical digital literacy: (1) the challenge of critiquing the ideological concerns with the digital without alienating the individual's personal affective response; (2) connecting collective concerns to do with social and educational inequalities to individual practices; and (3) cultivating a critical disposition in a context in which technical proficiency is prioritised. The paper then concludes by suggesting a model of ‘critical digital design’, offering a framework that might bridge the divide between critical literacy models and the more recent design-based literacy models.     

Childhood trauma and suicide risk in a sample of young individuals aged 14–35 years in southern Brazil

Suicide is among the main causes of death of people aged between 15 and 44 years old. Childhood trauma is an important risk factor for suicide. Hence, the objective of this study was to verify the relationship between childhood trauma and current suicide risk (suicidal behavior and ideation) in individuals aged 14–35 years, in the city of Pelotas, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional, population-based study. Sample selection was performed by clusters. Suicide risk was evaluated using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and Childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Moreover, the participants responded to a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic status, work, and substance use. The sample was composed of 1,380 individuals. The prevalence of suicide risk was 11.5%. The prevalence figures of childhood trauma were 15.2% (emotional neglect), 13.5% (physical neglect), 7.6% (sexual abuse), 10.1% (physical abuse), and 13.8% (emotional abuse). Suicide risk was associated (p < .001) with gender, work, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and all types of childhood trauma. The odds of suicide risk were higher in women (OR = 1.8), people who were not currently working (OR = 2.3), individuals who presented alcohol abuse (OR = 2.6), and among tobacco smokers (OR = 3.4). Moreover, suicide risk was increased in all types of trauma: emotional neglect (OR = 3.7), physical neglect (OR = 2.8), sexual abuse (OR = 3.4), physical abuse (OR = 3.1), and emotional abuse (OR = 6.6). Thus, preventing early trauma may reduce suicide risk in young individuals.     

Democratic education and the ‘strategy of material obstacles’: a pedagogical approach to the enforcement of traffic rules in a Greek town

This paper is about people's relationship to laws, rules and regulations in a Greek town. The aim is to describe specific traffic policies, point out the underlying pedagogical assumptions and assess their potential effect in relation to the goals of a democratic education. The study springs from the author's experience as a non-native inhabitant of Greece. It is the result of daily, 15-year-long participant observation. Faced with drivers who disregard most rules of the Highway Code, especially concerning parking, the authorities in a Greek town have screwed traffic devices to the ground. Functioning like obstacles, such devices are designed to make violations materially impossible. I argue that this policy eventually teaches people not to respect traffic regulations and rules in general, thus being in conflict with the goals of a democratic education.     

The performativity of routines: Theorising the influence of artefacts and distributed agencies on routines dynamics

Drawing from advances in Organisational Studies and recent debates within Economic Sociology and the Sociology of Financial Markets, this paper proposes a theoretical framework that characterises the mutual adaptation between formal routines and rules, on one hand, and actual performances, on the other, as iterative cycles of framing, overflowing and reframing of knowledge inputs and actions. This framework, combined with the ethnographic observation of the ‘engineering freeze’ process at a leading automotive manufacturer, allows us to advance Routine Theory by (1) capturing the dynamics of convergence and divergence between procedures and performances; and (2) improving our understanding of the influence of artefacts and distributed agencies on routine evolution.     

The development of nonverbal working memory and executive control processes in adolescents

The prefrontal cortex modulates executive control processes and structurally matures throughout adolescence. Consistent with these events, prefrontal functions that demand high levels of executive control may mature later than those that require working memory but decreased control. To test this hypothesis, adolescents (9 to 20 years old) completed nonverbal working memory tasks with varying levels of executive demands. Findings suggest that recall-guided action for single units of spatial information develops until 11 to 12 years. The ability to maintain and manipulate multiple spatial units develops until 13 to 15 years. Strategic self-organization develops until ages 16 to 17 years. Recognition memory did not appear to develop over this age range. Implications for prefrontal cortex organization by level of processing are discussed.     

Associations between Phenylalanine-to-Tyrosine Ratios and Performance on Tests of Neuropsychological Function in Adolescents Treated Early and Continuously for Phenylketonuria

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder characterized by hyperphenylalaninemia. Treatment involves dietary phenylalanine restriction to prevent mental retardation. Because phenylalanine is involved in tyrosine synthesis and tyrosine is a catecholamine precursor, low tyrosine may lead to brain dopamine deficiencies. Because dopamine is involved in the modulation of prefrontally orchestrated executive functions, deficiencies may lead to executive impairments. Despite treatment, impairments in executive cognitive functions have been reported in young children with PKU. Outcome beyond middle childhood has not been extensively investigated. In this study, PKU-affected adolescents (N = 18) with normal-range IQ scores completed neuropsychological tests, and their performance was compared with unaffected peers (N = 16) and chronically ill controls (N = 17). Results demonstrated that the overall performance of the PKU group did not differ from that of the other two groups, but that performance of the PKU proband was associated with phenylalanine and tyrosine levels, and most strongly with phenylalanine-to-tyrosine ratios at several points in development. These findings provide a preliminary test of the dopamine hypothesis of PKU as it applies to adolescents and young adults.