Links Between Discrimination and Sexual Orientation Self-Disclosure in Bisexual Individuals: The Moderating Effect of Relationship Satisfaction

Bisexuals experience sexual orientation-related discrimination from both the heterosexual and gay communities (Brewster & Moradi, 2010). This discrimination has been linked to bisexuals’ disproportionately high rates of mental illness compared to their gay and straight peers (Molina et al., 2015). Sexual orientation self-disclosure among bisexuals is lower than among gay individuals, and thus this has been proposed as an underlying mechanism for bisexuals’ poor mental health outcomes (Schrimshaw et al., 2013). Another mechanism may involve the nullification of bisexual identities in monogamous relationships (Hartman-Linck, 2014), which is likely to be associated with negative psychological consequences (Pachankis, 2007). This theory has not been experimentally examined and is in contrast to research showing that romantic relationships positively influence psychological health (Gordon et al., 2012). This study experimentally examines the role of relationships (specifically, relationship satisfaction) in moderating the link between discrimination and disclosure. Bisexual adults (N=136) completed self-report measures about relationship satisfaction, and viewed two bisexual-specific discrimination-inducing film clips of the heterosexual and gay communities, while completing mood ratings throughout the study. Finally, they completed a forced-choice sexual orientation disclosure task. Results suggest that higher levels of relationship satisfaction buffer against the harmful impact of discrimination on likelihood to disclose, while lower levels of relationship satisfaction enhance the harmful impact.The Social and Behavioral Sciences Undergraduate Research GrantThe Undergraduate Research Office Summer Research FellowshipNo embargoAcademic Major: Psycholog

Moderating Roles of Racial Identity in the Effects of Racial Discrimination on Distress

Racial discrimination has been linked to psychological distress among people of color. The degree to which psychological distress is associated with racial discrimination experiences varies across individuals. Racial identity may be one key set of individual difference factors that can influence how discrimination impacts psychological distress, but existing empirical findings remain mixed on the moderating role of racial identity in the links between discrimination and distress. The present study leveraged virtual reality technology to experimentally invoke experiences of discrimination. The study was aimed to (1) determine the causal effects of racial discrimination on psychological distress (i.e., stress and negative affect), and (2) characterize the moderating roles of the dimensions of racial identity in the links between discrimination and emotions. Participants included 185 English-speaking ethnic minority adults (Mage = 23.92, SDage = 1.35). We found that real-time experiences of racial discrimination in immersive virtual environments were linked to greater stress and negative affect. We found that racial identity centrality, public regard, and private regard did not moderate the links between discrimination and psychological distress. Findings have implications for current and future understanding of how individuals of color may be negatively impacted by or protected from the harmful experiences of discrimination

Psychiatric Clinics for Egyptian School Children Focus: The Garden City Psychiatric Clinic of Cairo

We present in this issue of The Cairo Papers a broad spectrum of articles dealing with the children of Egypt and their families; each article has a research base in the real world of childhood and each in its own way sug­gests trends for further work in both research and applied areas in child de­velopment. Ciaccio\u27s paper consists of an integrated set of recommendations based on action-oriented research sponsored by UNICEF- it is clear from a reading of his paper that the International Year of The Child is not simply another \u27UN year\u27 but rather a point of departure from which improved, increased and con­tinuing services for children will begin. Indeed, the second paper by Saleh and Moubarek take up Ciaccio\u27s challenge by showing how they have begun to re­build the school system of a Cairene sluni area, Bulaq. Their work has already served as a model for educational and social welfare improvement in several developing countries. Dr. Claire Fahim, eminent Egyptian Chil d Psychiatrist and long-time advocate of children\u27s rights in the Arab World, gives us an in­side view of the operations of a clinic for children which services over 124 schools in the West Cairo district; her successful use of the \u27team approach\u27 to child psychiatric problems is unique in Egypt. Fahmy\u27s paper concerning \u27emergent consciousness\u27 in a group of young women in the upper Egyptian village of Akhmim is a unique and fascinating doc­umentary of the socialization process_ of both males and females in a society undergoing rapid social change. Her perceptive use of in-depth interviews gives the reader an intimate view of family life paralleled perhaps only by Harrmed Arrmar\u27s Growing Up In An Egyptian Village (1954). Waines\u27 paper, a report of a pilot study she completed in 1978, actually is the first in a series of studies she is conducting on the mental health status of Egyptian children. She very clearly outlines the major clinical and research parameters involved and cogently argu es for more empirical data to guide future planning in the mental health field. The last paper in this issue, El-Mofty\u27s Children\u27s Reports of Child Rearing Practices, offers readers a most unusual and very refreshing view of socialization techniques as seen through the eyes of the children themselves. She presents data on sex and social class differences, some of which are clearly divergent from patterns found in the West. In sum, most of the articles in this volume represent work that is still in progress, work that will continue long after the celebration of the International Year of the Child. The underlying spirit of all the work however, is the recognition that the understanding and well-being of all children is closely linked with economic stability and world peace.https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_book_chapters/1821/thumbnail.jp

An exploration of management strategies for anxiety in children and young people with learning disabilities and autism

ABSTRACT Although parents’ involvement has been identified as important for interventions for their children and young people, little research is conducted to explore parental management strategies for anxiety in children and young people with mild to moderate learning disabilities (LD) and autism. Given that children and young people with LD and autism are more vulnerable to experience anxiety, the overall purpose of this thesis was to identify the prevalence rates of anxiety and explore management strategies for anxiety in children and young people with LD and autism. Three studies were conducted to identify prevalence of anxiety and develop and implement a parental programme of management strategies for anxiety in children and young people with LD and autism. In the first study of this research “Screening study”, 150 children and young people with LD and autism were screened for anxiety using Reiss Scale and Glasgow Anxiety Scale. Results from the screening indicated that children and young people with LD and autism have high prevalence rates of anxiety (32.6%). The second study of this research “Developing a programme” was to develop a programme of management strategies for anxiety from parents’, carer’s, teachers’ and health professionals’ views. In this study parents and teachers were interviewed regarding the management strategies they use to manage their children’s / young people’s anxiety. Results from 34 interviews revealed that sixteen different management strategies were identified by parents and teachers of children and young people with LD and autism. Following this, the management strategies identified by parents, carers and teachers were discussed with an expert panel of health professionals to develop a parental programme “Calm Child Programme” of the most useful and appropriate strategies for those children and young people. The Calm Child Programme was developed using Delphi method to identify a consensus approach with professionals. This consisted of ten useful management strategies for parents to manage their children’s and young people’s anxiety. Finally, the third study of this research “Implementing the calm child programme” was a pilot study of the implementation for the Calm Child Programme. This programme of parental management strategies for anxiety was piloted with seven parents of children and young people with LD and autism. The results from the pilot study indicate reduction in the children’s and young people’s anxiety after its use by parents. Parents reported that the developed strategies were useful in managing their children’s and young people’s anxiety. This research has two key contributions to knowledge. Firstly, this research highlighted the theme of anxiety of children and young people with LD and autism. The identification of high prevalence of anxiety in this population indicates the need for management strategies. Secondly, this research aimed to improve the paucity of autism specific research as it relates to anxiety management strategies in children and young people with autism. This research explored a new programme of parental management strategies for anxiety in children and young people with LD and autism. This research has contributed to our understanding of using systematic and evidence based management approaches in supporting and involving parents

Calm Child Programme: Parental programme for anxiety in children and young people with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (IDs) are more vulnerable to experiencing anxiety disorders. Parental involvement in intervention is crucial for successful management of the interventions in the population of people with ASDs. This article describes the design and evaluation of parenting programme for anxiety disorders in children and young people with ASD and ID. In phase 1 semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore management strategies for anxiety at home and in school settings. A total of 34 participants (14 parents, 20 teachers) participated in the interviews. A Delphi process was conducted with health professionals to develop consensus on appropriate anxiety interventions. In phase 2 the intervention programme was implemented by seven parents who also participated in focus group to evaluate the developed programme. A parental programme, calm child programme (CCP), was developed, implemented and evaluated. The evaluations show significant decrease in children’s anxiety as a result of implementing the programme. This study contributes further evidence to parental involvement in interventions for children and young people with ASD and IDs. The CCP is a useful and cost-effective approach in enabling parents to provide anxiety interventions in a home settin

Special Education Practices for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the UK and Egypt

: This study aims to compare the development of special education practices for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the UK and Egypt and gain an understanding of those factors that enhance special education in both countries. The study applies a comparative framework method. The findings provide a better understanding of special education practices and factors that enhanced the special education for ASD across the two countries. The findings reveal that special education practice in Egypt was hindered by low economic status, scarcity of cultural awareness, inadequate financial support and absence of education policy for ASD. While, in the UK education policy, cultural awareness, economy, and scientific technology have been identified as important enhancing factors for special education. The study suggests some recommendations for developing special education for ASD in Egypt

Advancing Transparency and Impact of Research: Initiating Crosstalk between Indigenous Research and Mainstream “Open Science”

To answer questions about human psychology, psychological science needs to yield credible findings. Because of their goals of understanding people’s lived experiences and advocating for the needs of the Native communities, Indigenous scholars tend to use community-based participatory research (CBPR) or approach science from a constructivist framework. The primary goal of mainstream psychological science is to uncover generalizable facts about human functioning. Approached from a postpositivist framework, mainstream psychological scholars tend to assume the possibility of identifying researcher biases and achieving objective science. Recently, many psychological findings failed to replicate in new samples. The replication crisis has raised concerns about the validity of psychological science. Mainstream open science practices have been promoted as a solution to the replication crisis; the movement encourages researchers to emphasize transparency and accountability to the broad scientific community. The notion of transparency aligns with the principles of CBPR—approach common in Indigenous research. Yet, open science practices are not widely adopted in Indigenous research, and mainstream open science does not emphasize researchers’ accountability to the communities that their science is intended to serve. We examined Indigenous researchers’ awareness and concerns about mainstream open science. Participants endorsed the value of being transparent in the knowledge-production process with the participants and their communities. They also were concerned about being disadvantaged, and the possible negative impact of data sharing on the Native communities. We suggest that there is value in connecting mainstream open science and Indigenous research to advance science that empowers people and makes positive community impact

Characterization of Sugar Diversity in Floral and Extra-Floral Nectar from the Coastal Coral Tree (Erythrina caffra Thunb.) in Southern California

The Coastal Coral Tree (Erythrina caffra Thunb.) produces floral nectar (FN) that serves to attract pollinating insects, but also secretes nectar from extra-floral (EFN) glands that serves to at-tract predatory insects, such as ants. While stu-dies on myrmecophytes (i.e. specialized plants that attract and interact with ants) have primarily focused on interspecific evaluations of EFN chemistry, the Coastal Coral tree offers an op-portunity to contrast intraspecific nectar chemi-stry with differing evolutionary and ecological functions. We hypothesized that the richness of (molecular) sugar species, relative concentra-tions, and diversity of sugars in FN and foliar EFN would diverge due to differences in the ecological role of the two types of nectar. High performance liquid chromatography with refrac-tive index detection was used to identify the richness of sugar species (based on retention time), measure the relative concentrations, and evaluate the diversity of sugars in FN and foliar EFN secretions. We detected sugar species unique to each gland type and reported signifi-cant differences in the relative concentration of one sugar species common to both gland types. While the mean diversity index of sugars was similar for both gland types, the diversity of fo-liar EFN sugars was significantly more variable than that of FN sugars. The composition of FN showed little variation, and was reflective of its fundamental role in plant reproduction. Foliar EFN, however, demonstrated the variability ex-pected of a context-dependent myrmecophyte that interacts with a facultative ant species as-semblage across a mosaic of abiotic and biotic conditions

Exploring the acceptability, barriers, and facilitators to psychosis screening in the integrated behavioral health primary care setting: a qualitative study

BackgroundA longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is associated with poorer treatment outcomes. Screening for psychosis spectrum disorders in the primary care setting could help support the earlier detection and treatment of individuals in need. However, the acceptability of screening for psychosis in this setting as part of routine care is currently unknown.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative interview study with providers and service users who participated in an early psychosis screening program conducted in an integrated behavioral health primary care (IBH-PC) setting. Interviews were recruited from one of eight WellSpace Federally Qualified Health Center IBH-PC clinics in the Sacramento, CA area. Transcripts of the recorded interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsIn total, 12 providers and eight service users participated in the interviews. Most service user and provider participants were supportive of psychosis screening in an IBH-PC setting, but not as part of the general practitioner consultation due to the brief, non-behavioral health nature of many of the appointments, and the expected low prevalence of psychosis in this population. The support of leadership, adequate training and support, staff turnover, and organizational changes were all seen to impact the successful implementation of the program. Different barriers and facilitators were considered important at each stage of the process from introducing the screening procedures to service users; to determining when, where, and how to screen; and how to effectively manage the referral and post-referral stages.ConclusionsDespite the additional challenges of screening in an IBH-PC setting relative to secondary mental health services, the process was considered acceptable and feasible to providers and service users. Services that plan to conduct psychosis screening in their clinics need to consider the challenges and their potential solutions to implementation at each stage of the screening process