Who Wants to Return Home? A Survey of Sudanese Refugees in Kakuma, Kenya

With the goal of better understanding some of the psychological factors related to refugees’ desire to return home, surveys were administered to 235 South Sudanese refugees living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Respondents were asked about how much they wanted to return to Sudan, their emotional reactions about returning, their views on the prospects for peace, their expectations regarding how they would be received upon return, and their concerns about specific challenges they might face. In addition, they completed an inventory measuring their personal beliefs about issues in five domains: vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness in regard to prospective returnees to Sudan. A large majority was very eager to repatriate. Individual differences in attitudes toward returning were significantly linked to the strength of their beliefs in the five domains. Stronger beliefs about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, and helplessness were associated with more negative perceptions of return, while a stronger belief about returnee superiority was correlated with a more favourable perspective on repatriation.Dans le but de mieux comprendre quelques-uns des facteurs psychologiques liés au désir des réfugiés de retourner chez eux, des enquêtes ont été conduites auprès de 235 réfugiés originaires du sud Soudan et vivant dans le camp de réfugiés de Kakuma, au Kenya. On posa aux répondants des questions sur l’intensité de leur désir de retourner au Soudan, leurs réactions émotionnelles par rapport à toute la question du retour, leur point de vue sur les perspectives pour la paix, leurs attentes quant à la façon dont ils seraient reçus au retour, et leurs préoccupations quant aux défis spécifiques qui pourraient les confronter. En plus, ils complétèrent aussi un inventaire de personnalité permettant d’évaluer leurs croyances personnelles sur des questions relatives à cinq domaines : la vulnérabilité, l’injustice, la méfiance, la supériorité, et le sentiment d’impuissance par rapport aux éventuels candidats au retour au Soudan. La grande majorité était très désireuse de rentrer au pays. Les différences individuelles dans les attitudes par rapport au retour étaient étroitement liées à l’intensité de leur croyance dans les cinq domaines. Une croyance plus forte dans la vulnérabilité, l’injustice, la méfiance, et le sentiment d’impuissance était associée à des perceptions plutôt négatives sur le retour, alors qu’une croyance plus forte quant à la supériorité du réfugié revenant chez lui était corrélée avec une perspective plus favorable sur le retour

Modeling Factions for \u27Effects Based Operations\u27: Part I Leader and Follower Behaviors

This paper presents a synthetic approach for generating role playing simulation games intended to support analysts (and trainees) interested in testing alternative competing courses of action (operations) and discovering what effects they are likely to precipitate in potential ethno-political conflict situations. Simulated leaders and followers capable of playing these games are implemented in a cognitive modeling framework, called PMFserv, which covers value systems, personality and cultural factors, emotions, relationships, perception, stress/coping style and decision making. Of direct interest, as Sect. 1.1 explains, is mathematical representation and synthesis of best-of-breed behavioral science models within this framework to reduce dimensionality and to improve the realism and internal validity of the agent implementations. Sections 2 and 3 present this for leader profiling instruments and group membership decision-making, respectively. Section 4 serves as an existence proof that the framework has generated several training and analysis tools, and Sect. 5 concludes with lessons learned. Part II turns to the question of assessment of the synthesis and its usage in course of action studies

Socio-Cultural Games for Training and Analysis

This paper presents a theory for role playing simulation games intended to support analysts (and trainees) with generating and testing alternative competing hypotheses on how to influence world conflict situations. Simulated leaders and followers capable of playing these games are implemented in a cognitive modeling framework, called PMFserv, which covers value systems, personality and cultural factors, emotions, relationships, perception, stress/coping style and decision making. Of direct interest, as Section 1.1 explains, is codification and synthesis of best-of-breed social science models within PMFserv to improve the internal validity of the agent implementations. Sections 2 and 3 present this for leader profiling instruments and group membership decision-making, respectively. Section 4 then offers two real world case studies (The Third Crusade and SE Asia today) where the agent models are subjected to Turing and correspondence tests under each case study. In sum, substantial effort on game realism, best-of-breed social science models, and agent validation efforts is essential if analysis and training tools are to help explore cultural issues and alternative ways to influence outcomes. Such exercises, in turn, are likely to improve the state of the science as well

Interoperable human behavior models for simulations

Modern simulations and games have limited capabilities for simulated characters to interact with each other and with humans in rich, meaningful ways. Although significant achievements have been made in developing human behavior models (HBMs) that are able to control a single simulated entity (or a single group of simulated entities), a limiting factor is the inability of HBMs developed by different groups to interact with each other. We present an architecture and multi-level message framework for enabling HBMs to communicate with each other about their actions and their intents, and describe the results of our crowd control demonstration system which applied it to allow three distinct HBMs to interoperate within a single training-oriented simulation. Our hope is that this will encourage the development of standards for interoperability among HBMs which will lead to the development of richer training and analysis simulations.Postprint (author’s final draft

Multidimensional sexual perfectionism and female sexual function: A longitudinal investigation

Research on multidimensional sexual perfectionism differentiates four forms of sexual perfectionism: self-oriented, partner-oriented, partner-prescribed, and socially prescribed. Self-oriented sexual perfectionism reflects perfectionistic standards people apply to themselves as sexual partners; partner-oriented sexual perfectionism reflects perfectionistic standards people apply to their sexual partner; partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism reflects people’s beliefs that their sexual partner imposes perfectionistic standards on them; and socially prescribed sexual perfectionism reflects people’s beliefs that society imposes such standards on them. Previous studies found partner-prescribed and socially prescribed sexual perfectionism to be maladaptive forms of sexual perfectionism associated with a negative sexual self-concept and problematic sexual behaviors, but only examined cross-sectional relationships. The present article presents the first longitudinal study examining whether multidimensional sexual perfectionism predicts changes in sexual self-concept and sexual function over time. A total of 366 women aged 17-69 years completed measures of multidimensional sexual perfectionism, sexual esteem, sexual anxiety, sexual problem self-blame, and female sexual function (cross-sectional data). Three to six months later, 164 of the women completed the same measures again (longitudinal data). Across analyses, partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism emerged as the most maladaptive form of sexual perfectionism. In the cross-sectional data, partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism showed positive relationships with sexual anxiety, sexual problem self-blame, and intercourse pain and negative relationships with sexual esteem, desire, arousal, lubrication, and orgasmic function. In the longitudinal data, partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism predicted increases in sexual anxiety and decreases in sexual esteem, arousal, and lubrication over time. The findings suggest that partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism contributes to women’s negative sexual self-concept and female sexual dysfunction

Assessment of cognitive self-statements during marital problem solving: A comparison of two methods

Twenty maritally distressed couples (DC) and 20 nondistressed couples (NDC) were recruited and asked to undertake 10 minutes of problem-solving discussions, which were videotaped. Each individual partner’s cognitive self-statements during the interaction were assessed using two methods: video-assisted recall (VR) and thought listing (TL). Reported cognitions from each method were content- analysed and classified into five categories: partner- referent positive, partner- referent negative, self-referent positive, self- referent negative, and other. Proportions of reported cognitions falling into each category were analysed in two separate two-way MANOVAs (marital distress/ nondistress x sex) for the VR and TL measures. Results of each MANOVA indicated a highly significant effect of marital distress on cognitions, and a significant effect of sex on the VR but not the TL measure. Discriminant analyses showed that the VR and TL methods both discriminated between DC and NDC groups. Post hoc univariate ANOVAs indicated that DC had significantly higher proportions of negative partner- referent cognitions, and lower proportions of positive partner- referent cognitions, than NDC while problem solving. The relative merits of each cognitive assessment method, and their potential use in increasing marital therapy effectiveness, are discussed

The Primary Prevention of PTSD in Firefighters: Preliminary Results of an RCT with 12-Month Follow-Up

AIM: To develop and evaluate an evidence-based and theory driven program for the primary prevention of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). DESIGN: A pre-intervention / post-intervention / follow up control group design with clustered random allocation of participants to groups was used. The "control" group received "Training as Usual" (TAU). METHOD: Participants were 45 career recruits within the recruit school at the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) in Western Australia. The intervention group received a four-hour resilience training intervention (Mental Agility and Psychological Strength training) as part of their recruit training school curriculum. Data was collected at baseline and at 6- and 12-months post intervention. RESULTS: We found no evidence that the intervention was effective in the primary prevention of mental health issues, nor did we find any significant impact of MAPS training on social support or coping strategies. A significant difference across conditions in trauma knowledge is indicative of some impact of the MAPS program. CONCLUSION: While the key hypotheses were not supported, this study is the first randomised control trial investigating the primary prevention of PTSD. Practical barriers around the implementation of this program, including constraints within the recruit school, may inform the design and implementation of similar programs in the future. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12615001362583

Social and occupational factors associated with psychological distress and disorder among disaster responders: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: When disasters occur, there are many different occupational groups involved in rescue, recovery and support efforts. This study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review to identify social and occupational factors affecting the psychological impact of disasters on responders. METHODS: Four electronic literature databases (MEDLINE®, Embase, PsycINFO® and Web of Science) were searched and hand searches of reference lists were carried out. Papers were screened against specific inclusion criteria (e.g. published in peer-reviewed journal in English; included a quantitative measure of wellbeing; participants were disaster responders). Data was extracted from relevant papers and thematic analysis was used to develop a list of key factors affecting the wellbeing of disaster responders. RESULTS: Eighteen thousand five papers were found and 111 included in the review. The psychological impact of disasters on responders appeared associated with pre-disaster factors (occupational factors; specialised training and preparedness; life events and health), during-disaster factors (exposure; duration on site and arrival time; emotional involvement; peri-traumatic distress/dissociation; role-related stressors; perceptions of safety, threat and risk; harm to self or close others; social support; professional support) and post-disaster factors (professional support; impact on life; life events; media; coping strategies). CONCLUSIONS: There are steps that can be taken at all stages of a disaster (before, during and after) which may minimise risks to responders and enhance resilience. Preparedness (for the demands of the role and the potential psychological impact) and support (particularly from the organisation) are essential. The findings of this review could potentially be used to develop training workshops for professionals involved in disaster response. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-016-0120-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users