Longitudinal associations between keeping a secret and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

Increasing bodies of evidence suggest that keeping secrets may be detrimental to well-being and adjustment, whereas confiding secrets may alleviate the detriments of secrecy and benefit well-being and adjustment. However, few studies have addressed the consequences of keeping and confiding secrets simultaneously, and even fewer have done so longitudinally. This article reports on a two-wave longitudinal survey study among 278 adolescents (aged 13-18 years) that examined the associations of keeping and confiding a specific secret with psychosocial adjustment. Results confirmed a hypothesized longitudinal contribution of keeping a secret all to oneself to psychosocial problems, including depressive mood, low self-concept clarity, low self-control, loneliness, and poor relationship quality. Furthermore, confiding versus continuing to keep a secret all to oneself was associated with decreased psychosocial problems after six months, whereas starting to keep a secret versus not doing so was associated with increased psychosocial problems. These results suggest that the keeping or confiding of secrets may affect adolescents' psychosocial well-being and adjustment. © 2008 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development

Keeping secrets from parents: Longitudinal associations of secrecy in adolescence

Contains fulltext : 55705.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)A 2-wave survey study among 1173 10-14-year-olds tested the longitudinal contribution of secrecy from parents to psychosocial and behavioral problems in adolescence. Additionally, it investigated a hypothesized contribution of secrecy from parents to adolescent development by examining its relation with self-control. Results showed that keeping secrets from parents is associated with substantial psychosocial and behavioral disadvantages in adolescence even after controlling for possible confounding variables, including communication with parents, trust in parents, and perceived parental supportiveness. Contrary to prediction, secrecy was also negatively associated with feelings of self-control. Secrecy from parents thus appears to be an important risk factor for adolescent psychosocial well-being and behavioral adjustment.12 p

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

An evaluation of Every Life Matters’ suicide prevention training

Every Life Matters is a registered suicide prevention and suicide bereavement support charity that launched in Cumbria in 2020. The charity aims to promote suicide safer communities and provides suicide bereavement support across Cumbria – a county where suicide rates are 50% higher than the national England average (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2021). One of the main ways in which Every Life Matters aims to promote suicide safer communities is through the delivery of online suicide prevention training. Every Life Matters offers four core training programmes on: Suicide Alertness; Suicide Awareness; Self-Harm Alertness; and Safety Planning. The aim of this National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded joint project between Every Life Matters and Health and Society Knowledge Exchange (HASKE) at the University of Cumbria. was to determine the impact and reach of the suicide prevention training delivered by Every Life Matters. Alongside this, the research aimed to identify the relevant ‘gatekeepers’ for people experiencing thoughts of suicide within Cumbria, to ensure the current and prospective reach of the training was appropriate

Review of midwifery education and training and newly qualified experience: thematic analysis

Context: Between November 2022 and February 2023, Health Education England (HEE) conducted the first nationally co-ordinated quality review of pre-registration midwifery education and training. Prior to this, independent reviews by Ockenden and Kirkup highlighted the significant failings of maternity services, which can impact on the experiences of midwifery students and the quality of their clinical placements. Therefore, the purpose of HEE’s quality review was to explore the experiences of student midwives and newly qualified midwives, across England, in order to inform the development of a Student Charter. In March 2023, Health and Society Knowledge Exchange (HASKE) was commissioned by NHS England (formerly HEE), to undertake a thematic analysis of the data collected through their review of midwifery training and newly qualified experience. Methodology: HEE’s national quality and maternity teams were supported by the regional quality teams and regional maternity leads to undertake the data collection for this project, which involved: • 152 focus groups across England with maternity students from all years of study; • 10 focus groups with newly qualified midwives across England; • A national online survey of newly qualified midwives who were unable to attend the focus groups; • 10 focus groups with multi-professional students from the South West of England; • 9 focus groups with newly qualified multi-professionals from the South West of England; • An online survey of newly qualified multi-professionals, from the South West of England, who were unable to attend the focus groups; and • Slido Polls distributed during the focus groups. The questions posed in the focus groups and online surveys were positively orientated to capture ‘what good looks like’ in order to inform the development of a Student Charter, with a focus on midwifery students in the first instance. The questions were structured around the following key themes: overall quality; safe learning and training; client and learner safety; induction; practice supervision; receiving feedback; practice assessment; university support; health and wellbeing; facilities (education, support, clinical, wider working environment); educational opportunities; respect and value in the placement environment; and supporting future careers. Findings: Across all of the regions, a clear set of themes emerged regarding the overall quality of educational experience in midwifery. - It is essential for students to feel valued as part of a midwifery team, who can fulfil their caring role well. Students should be based in interested, motivated and supportive environments in practice and at university, with clear communication of expectations and support in achieving learning outcomes. - Staff who have time to role model excellent care and teaching in a positive work environment are crucial to a quality experience. Supervisors should be consistent (and potentially continuous), motivated, trained in pedagogical methods, proactive and engaged in student learning and development, and supportive of their individual needs and interests. - It is important to ensure ample opportunity to develop skills and develop knowledge with the ability to reinforce this over time and across practice, including the chance to practice a range of skills regularly in order to embed learning (through real life practice and simulations). - Sufficient time and dedicated spaces are needed to discuss and reflect on a varied practice, in order to learn. - Staff levels should remain safe, and staff-student ratios and workloads should allow for good teaching to occur, ensuring that students can feel safe and confident on placement and in their work. - Flexibility in shifts can allow for learning opportunities. These themes were largely reproduced in the data collected from NQMs, multi-professional learners and newly qualified multi-professionals

Mineralogy affects prokaryotic community composition in an acidic metal mine

The microbial ecology of acidic mine and sulfide cave ecosystems is well characterised with respect to aquatic communities, typically revealing low taxonomic complexity and dominance by a relatively limited number of cosmopolitan acidophilic bacterial and archaeal taxa. Whilst pH, temperature, and geochemistry are recognised drivers of diversity in these ecosystems, the specific question of a possible influence of substratum mineralogy on microbial community composition remains unanswered. Here we address this void, using 81 subterranean mineral samples from a low temperature abandoned, acidic, sulfide ore mine system at Mynydd Parys (Parys Mountain in English), Wales, UK. Four primary and 15 secondary minerals were identified via x-ray diffraction, each sample containing a maximum of five and an average of two minerals. The mineralogy of primary (e.g. pyrite and quartz) and secondary (e.g. melanterite and pisanite) minerals was significantly correlated with prokaryotic community structure at multiple taxonomic levels, implying that the mineralosphere effect reported in less extreme terrestrial environments is also implicated in driving prokaryotic community composition in extremely acidic, base metal-bearing sulfide mineralisation at Mynydd Parys. Twenty phyla were identified, nine of which were abundant (mean relative abundance >1%). While taxa characteristic of acidic mines were detected, for example Leptospirillum (phylum Nitrospirae), Acidithiobacillus (phylum Proteobacteria), Sulfobacillus (phylum Firmicutes) and Ferroplasma (phylum Euryarchaeota), their abundance in individual samples was highly variable. Indeed, in the majority of the 81 samples investigated the abundance of these and other typical acidic mine taxa was low, with 25% of samples devoid of sequences from recognised acidic mine taxa. Most notable amongst the bacterial taxa not previously reported in such environments were the recently cultivated Muribaculaceae family (phylum Bacteroidetes), which often dominated Mynydd Parys samples regardless of their mineralogical content. Our results pose further questions regarding the mechanisms by which taxa not previously reported in such extreme environments appear to survive in Mynydd Parys, opening up research pathways for exploring the biodiversity drivers underlying microbial community composition and function in extremely acidic mine environments