The Necessary Right of Choice for Physician-Assisted Suicide

Research-based paper on the importance of the right for terminally ill patients facing a painful death to be able to choose how they end their lif

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Standards Process Experiences

NASA has impaneled several internal working groups to provide recommendations to NASA management on ways to evolve and improve Earth Science Data Systems. One of these working groups is the Standards Process Group (SPC). The SPG is drawn from NASA-funded Earth Science Data Systems stakeholders, and it directs a process of community review and evaluation of proposed NASA standards. The working group's goal is to promote interoperability and interuse of NASA Earth Science data through broader use of standards that have proven implementation and operational benefit to NASA Earth science by facilitating the NASA management endorsement of proposed standards. The SPC now has two years of experience with this approach to identification of standards. We will discuss real examples of the different types of candidate standards that have been proposed to NASA's Standards Process Group such as OPeNDAP's Data Access Protocol, the Hierarchical Data Format, and Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Map Server. Each of the three types of proposals requires a different sort of criteria for understanding the broad concepts of "proven implementation" and "operational benefit" in the context of NASA Earth Science data systems. We will discuss how our Standards Process has evolved with our experiences with the three candidate standards

Correlates of Serious Suicidal Ideation and Attempts in Female Adult Sexual Assault Survivors

Relations between (a) serious suicidal ideation and attempts and (b) demographics, trauma history, assault characteristics, post-assault outcomes, and psychosocial variables were examined among female adult sexual assault survivors. Younger, minority, and bisexual survivors reported greater ideation. More traumas, drug use, and assault disclosure related to greater attempts, whereas perceived control over recovery was related to fewer attempts. Child sexual abuse and some assault characteristics predicted suicidal behavior. Depression was related to suicidal behavior until psychosocial variables were accounted for. Specifically, using substances to cope and self-blame predicted greater ideation, whereas receiving aid/information support was related to less ideation. Implications for research and treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

Vulnerability and Protective Factors for Sexual Assault

Approximately 1 in 5 women experience sexual assaults in adulthood during their lives (see Post, this volume, for review), including experiences of unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape, and completed rape that result from threat, force, or incapacitation from alcohol or drugs (either willingly or unwillingly consumed)

Prospective Effects of Sexual Victimization on PTSD and Problem Drinking

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and problem drinking are common and often co-occurring sequelae experienced by women survivors of adult sexual assault, yet it remains unclear whether survivors drink to cope with PTSD symptoms or whether PTSD symptoms are exacerbated by drinking. Thus, we used a cross-lagged panel design with a large (N = 555), ethnically diverse sample of women assault survivors to determine whether PTSD prospectively led to problem drinking or vice versa. We also examined whether cumulative sexual victimization experiences related to greater PTSD and problem drinking. Structural equation modeling revealed that child sexual abuse was associated with greater symptoms of PTSD and problem drinking and intervening sexual victimization was associated with greater symptoms of PTSD and problem drinking 1 year later. We found no evidence, however, that PTSD directly influenced problem drinking over the long term, or vice versa. Rather, experiencing revictimization during the study predicted survivors’ prospective PTSD and problem drinking symptoms. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed

Prospective Changes In Attributions Of Self-Blame And Social Reactions To Women’s Disclosures Of Adult Sexual Assault

The present longitudinal study examined relations between self-blame attributions and social reactions to disclosure in a community sample of adult sexual assault victims (N = 555). Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that neither characterological self-blame nor behavioral self-blame related to negative social reactions over the 1-year follow-up period. In contrast, characterological but not behavioral self-blame predicted fewer positive reactions over time. Although positive reactions did not reduce self-blame, negative reactions led to greater characterological, but not behavioral, self-blame during the course of the study. Thus, relations between self-blame and social reactions were not reciprocal but rather quite complex. The effects of victims’ coping strategies and sexual revictimization were also assessed. Implications for research, treatment, and intervention are discussed

The Effects of Revictimization on Coping and Depression in Women Sexual Assault Victims

On two mail surveys completed 1 year apart, 555 women reported their experiences of sexual assault, the strategies they used to cope with those experiences, and feelings of depression. Path analyses controlling for baseline coping and depression revealed that victims who were revictimized during the study reported using more maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies than did victims who were not revictimized. Further, women who were revictimized reported more depression than others. This effect was explained in part by revictimized women’s increased maladaptive coping. Implications for understanding coping and recovery in women who experience multiple sexual assaults in adulthood are discussed

Alcohol-Related Help Seeking in Problem Drinking Women Sexual Assault Survivors

Correlates of alcohol-related help seeking were studied in women sexual assault survivors who were current problem drinkers (N = 526) in a large metropolitan area in 2002-2003. Volunteer participants completed several valid and reliable instruments, which assessed alcohol use and misuse and related help seeking (i.e., the TWEAK, GFM, and MAST). Data were analyzed using logistic regression models. Results suggest that correlates of women survivors’ alcohol-related help seeking vary depending on the specific source. Limitations and implications are noted and recommendations for future research are made. This study was funded by the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism