DEPRESSION AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN YOUNG, LOW-INCOME AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN AND FATHERS

Depression is a debilitating mental illness that in its most serious form, major depression, has affected between 3.6% to 12.7% of men in the United States (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Jonas, Brody, Roper, & Narrow, 2003; Kessler, McGonagle, Zhao, & Nelson, 1994). It has consistently been found to be twice as prevalent in women as in men, and yet the suicide rate of men is four to five times that of women (Singh, Kochanek, & MacDorman, 1996; World Health Organization, 2005). Despite this, little is known about the experience and expression of the full range of depression in men, and specifically, young, low-income men of color who are fathers. When young fathers suffer from depression, there are enormous consequences for young families, both financial and emotional (Ansseau et al., 2008; Mirowsky & Ross, 2002; Montgomery, Cook, Bartley, & Wadsworth, 1999; Patten et al., 2006; Rehman, Gollan, & Mortimer, 2008; Soares, Macassa, Grossi, & Viitasara, 2008). It is possible that the risk for depression increases when fatherhood includes the challenges of nonresidential parenting and financial stress (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2002; Roy, 2004). This has implications for their co-parenting relationships, and shapes their identities and roles as parents and providers (Bouma, Ormel, Verhulst, & Oldehinkel, 2008; Kim, Capaldi, & Stoolmiller, 2003). However, fatherhood also brings many opportunities for young men; it is a chance for them to be generative for the first time in their lives and to experience the joys that accompany the challenges of parenthood (Palkovitz, Copes, & Woolfolk, 2001). I conducted research guided by a combination of symbolic interaction theory and the cognitive theory of depression to answer the following questions: how does depression emerge in toxic environments, how do young men experience and express the full range of depression in those environments over time, and, what was the reciprocal relationship between depression and fatherhood? I conducted in-depth interviews with 40 at risk, low-income young African-American men and fathers. Growing up in high crime neighborhoods meant that many had strained and fractured relationships with law enforcement, teachers, peers, and families. Young men engaged in identity work while trying to avoid problems at school and with law enforcement. They also reported substantial substance abuse, usually starting recreationally, but moving to daily self-medication for stress and anger. Depression was expressed at multiple points, through depressive language, extensive anger histories, fatigue, protracted cycles of avoidance, and episodes of major depression. Young men who were also young fathers found that fatherhood brought added responsibilities, which added to stress, but also found great joy and motivation in their children

Cultural Values, Acculturation, and Parental Involvement as Predictors of Latino Youth Engagement in Extracurricular Activities

Most research indicates that extracurricular activities are an important part of children's development with the potential to enhance children's academic achievement, physical growth, and social skills. Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States, and although most Latino children achieve academic success, they are the ethnic group most at risk for school drop-out. Previous research indicated that even when socioeconomic status was controlled, Latino children engaged in fewer extracurricular activities than their white peers. This study examined the extent to which cultural values emphasized in the Latino population, such as collectivism, personalismo, simpatía, and religiosity influenced the extracurricular activities of Latino children. It found that certain values are correlated with corresponding activities, but education of the primary caregiver and acculturation were the strongest predictors of participation in extracurricular activities

Visual Exploration Strategies and the Development of Infants’ Facial Emotion Discrimination

We examined the role of visual exploration strategies in infants’ discrimination between facial emotion expressions. Twenty-eight 6- to 11-month olds were habituated to alternating models posing the same expression (happy N = 14/fearful N = 14) as eye gaze data were collected with a corneal reflection eye tracker. Gaze behavior analyses indicated that duration of gaze to the eyes and mouth was similar, consistent with what would be expected based on area subtended by those regions, and negatively correlated. This pattern did not differ as a function of age, sex, or habituation condition. There were no posthabituation performance differences as a function of age group (6- to 8-month- versus 9- to 11-month olds). Only infants habituated to happy faces showed longer looking at the novel emotion (fear) when the model was held constant from habituation to test. We found no reliable correlation between this performance and proportion of gaze directed at any one facial region. Consistent with previous work, the group habituated to fear faces showed no reliable posthabituation novelty preference. Individual differences in gaze behavior shed light on this finding. Greater proportion of gaze directed at the eyes correlated positively with preference for the novel emotion (happy). These data suggest that, as in other object classes, visual exploration strategies are an important agent of change in infants’ capacity to learn about emotion expressions

Recovering Ecosystem Functions in a Restored Salt Marsh by Leveraging Positive Effects of Biodiversity

Natural and managed ecosystems provide a variety of ecological, economic, and cultural benefits; yet most have been altered by human activity such that they exhibit deficits in both biodiversity and functionality. Identifying factors accelerating the recovery of key species and associated functions in degraded systems is therefore a global priority. We tested the hypotheses that explicitly incorporating biodiversity into restoration design will lead to greater ecosystem function and that positive effects of diversity will strengthen over time due to an increase in the importance of complementarity relative to selection effects. We did this by manipulating salt marsh plant species richness across a tidal elevation gradient as part of a coastal wetland restoration project in southern California. Overall, diversity enhanced biomass accumulation in experimental plots, with the magnitude of the effect strengthening from one to three years post-restoration due to a combination of decreasing performance in monocultures and increasing performance in multispecies mixtures over time. Positive diversity effects were initially due exclusively to selection, as mixtures were dominated by species also exhibiting high performance in monoculture, although the identity of the highest performing species varied across tidal elevations and over time. By the end of the study, complementarity, indicative of niche partitioning and/or positive interactions among species, contributed to productivity at least as much as selection effects. Our study provides real-world support for a recent theoretical model predicting strong positive biodiversity effects when functionally different species coexist in a heterogeneous landscape. Incorporating biodiversity into restoration designs can result in net gains in ecosystem function especially in low diversity systems, yet shorter experiments lacking broad environmental and species trait variability may both underestimate the strength of and misidentify the mechanisms underlying positive diversity effects

Upskilling Australian registered nurses to enhance students’ clinical placement experiences : a contemporary discussion

Objective: To present and discuss options for upskilling registered nurse supervisors to ultimately improve the quality and consistency of nursing student placements. Background: Many studies have examined clinical learning in nursing, with evidence that student learning and registered nurse clinical supervision experiences can be improved. An independent review of nursing education in Australia confirmed gaps in the preparation and support of supervising registered nurses that may negatively impact students’ learning. Study design and methods: This paper discusses contemporary insights around 1) the current situation in Australian nursing student clinical placements regarding learning, 2) registered nurse clinical supervisor experiences and 3) professional options for recognising role excellence, offered by Australian and international nursing and healthcare specialities. Discussion: Nursing students’ placement experiences are at times sub-optimal. One way to improve learning experiences could be to offer clinical supervisors professional development programs. Now is the time to consider a certification process to recognise excellence in registered nurses’ education capabilities and to better support students’ clinical learning. Conclusion: Upskilling registered nurses for clinical supervision may be assisted through formal and informal education programs specific to the professional nursing context in Australia. Implications for research policy and practice: Upskilling registered nurse clinical supervisors should be a priority on the national agenda of improving students’ clinical learning experiences. This commentary provides contemporary insights to the current situation regarding Australian students’ clinical placement and supervisor experiences. The ways that some nursing specialities recognise excellence in practice are discussed as options for improving clinical supervision. What is already known about the topic • Nursing students’ clinical placements need improvement; students continue to report less than optimal experiences. • There are no requirements in Australia for registered nurse clinical supervisors to undertake assessment of capability for the role. • National and international processes exist to recognise supervisor capabilities and role excellence. What this paper adds • Options for recognising capability and practice excellence in nursing clinical supervision. • A discussion around clinical supervisors engaging with formal and informal education and processes that recognise excellence in role capabilities. © 2022, Australian Nursing Federation. All rights reserved

Training and HIV-Treatment Scale-Up: Establishing an Implementation Research Agenda

McCarthy and colleagues discuss the various approaches to training the health workforce for an expanding HIV treatment program in a resource-limited setting

East Bay Coalition for the Homeless: Branding Study and Marketing Strategy

There are a number of potential positioning strategies. The two which make the most sense for the EBCH are to “position the EBCH away from others in the category” and to “position the EBCH as unique.” These strategies have the advantage of setting the EBCH apart from the other organizations that address homelessness. Occupying its own “position” in the minds of potential and current donors is not only an effective communications/marketing strategy but also a less costly one because it avoids head-to-head competition and comparisons

Training using a simulation-based workshop reduces inaccuracies in estimations of testicular volume

Objectives Measuring testicular volume (TV) by orchidometer is routine in the clinic when staging male puberty. We have developed a simulation model for TV estimation and investigated whether training medical students, using a workshop with simulation models, could improve the accuracy and reliability of TV estimation. Methods All participating medical students watched a video representing standard undergraduate training in male pubertal assessment. Volunteers were then randomised directly to assessment or to attend a workshop consisting of a further video and four stations contextualising and practising the skills required for TV estimation, prior to assessment. Three child mannequins displaying testes of 3 mL, 4 mL (twice), 5, 10 and 20 mL were used for assessment. Participants were asked to return a fortnight later for repeat assessment to assess intra-observer reliability, the effect of repeated examinations on accuracy and time on skill retention. Results Ninety students participated (55F), 46 attended the workshop and were considered “trained”. There was no difference between the groups in numbers of correct estimations (29% trained, 27% untrained, p=0.593). However, the trained group’s estimations were closer to the true volume, with more from the trained group one bead away (p=0.002) and fewer more than three beads away from the true volume (p<0.001), compared to the untrained group. Trained participants were more accurate at the second assessment (n=80) (p<0.001) and had greater intra-observer reliability (p=0.004). Conclusions Overall TV estimation accuracy was poor. Workshop-style training improved accuracy, reliability and retention of skill acquisition and could be considered as a useful learning tool