Attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples: Do gender roles matter?

Within Canada, the right for same-sex couples to adopt children is a highly contentious issue. Despite all provinces and territories in Canada permitting adoption by gay and lesbian couples through their public agencies, this legal recognition has not been accompanied by widespread acceptance of the practice. Research advancing the understanding of the prejudice and discrimination directed toward sexual minority men and women who exercise their right to be adoptive parents is limited. In particular, few studies have considered how the perceived importance of gender role models factors into attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Therefore, the present study experimentally investigated attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples while considering the impact of parental gender roles on these attitudes. To accomplish this objective, this study: (1) assessed attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adopting couples; (2) examined if attitudes change depending on the sex of the child to be adopted; (3) assessed whether atypical gender role behaviour affects attitudes toward adoption; and (4) investigated predictors of attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Based on vignettes describing adoptive couples, the results revealed that no significant differences existed in ratings of adoptive couples based on their sexual orientation or the adoptive child’s sex. However, the results revealed that heterosexual couples were rated more favourably when the male partner exhibited feminine gender role characteristics. Further, lesbian couples were rated significantly less favourably when both partners displayed feminine characteristics or if they both exhibited masculine characteristics as opposed to when the couple consisted of one partner exhibiting masculine characteristics and the other displaying feminine characteristics. No significant effects were found based on gender role characteristics in the analysis of vignettes describing gay male adoptive couples. Gender, religiosity, old-fashioned homonegativity, and beliefs about the aetiology of homosexuality emerged as significant predictors of attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Limitations and future directions for conducting research examining attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples are discussed

A Tripartite Examination of Heterosexual Canadians' Attitudes Toward Subgroups of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

Recent trends in nation-wide opinion polls and academic research indicate that evaluations of gay men and lesbian women have become decidedly more favourable over the last 30 years. However, discrimination against gay men and lesbian women remains widespread. A possible explanation for this paradox is that there exist different subgroups of gay men and lesbian women with different attitudes directed toward them. Subgroups that are perceived comparatively more positively may be masking the negativity directed at other subgroups. Therefore, the primary goals of this dissertation were to identify subgroups of gay men and lesbian women and to assess attitudes towards them. This dissertation outlines four studies, laid out in three separate chapters. Chapter 2 delineates the process that was used to identify subgroups of gay men and lesbian women and reports on which subgroups emerged as most salient to Canadian undergraduate students and the Canadian population more widely. Chapter 3 describes the examination of explicit attitudes toward the subgroups identified in Chapter 2 using the tripartite model of attitudes that includes cognition, affect, and behaviour. Complementing the study of explicit attitudes, Chapter 4 describes the use of a computerised reaction-time measure to assess implicit attitudes toward the subgroups. Overall, the results of this dissertation support the existence of subgroups of gay men and lesbian women and document what attitudes are associated with them. The methodological and theoretical implications of the findings on our understanding of attitudes toward the overarching categories of gay men and lesbian women are explored and a discussion of how future research needs to change to accommodate the fragmentation of the superordinate groups are included

In the Face of Anti-LGBQ Behaviour: Saskatchewan High-school Students' Perceptions of School Climate and Consequential Impact

In Canada, there is a dearth of research on school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students. Using social networking, sixty students from high-schools in Saskatchewan participated in a climate survey. Results indicated that anti-LGBQ speech is widespread, as were other forms of harassment. The more victimization that was reported by students known, or perceived to be, LGBQ, the more deleterious were the consequences for their academic performance, social lives, participation in sports and extra-curricular activities, and overall enjoyment of school. Limitations associated with the study and directions for future research are detailed.

Predictive and motivational factors influencing anticipatory contrast: A comparison of contextual and gustatory predictors in food restricted and free-fed rats

In anticipation of palatable food, rats can learn to restrict consumption of a less rewarding food type resulting in an increased consumption of the preferred food when it is made available. This construct is known as anticipatory negative contrast (ANC) and can help elucidate the processes that underlie binge-like behavior as well as self-control in rodent motivation models. In the current investigation we aimed to shed light on the ability of distinct predictors of a preferred food choice to generate contrast effects and the motivational processes that underlie this behavior. Using a novel set of rewarding solutions, we directly compared contextual and gustatory ANC predictors in both food restricted and free-fed Sprague-Dawley rats. Our results indicate that, despite being food restricted, rats are selective in their eating behavior and show strong contextually-driven ANC similar to free-fed animals. These differences mirrored changes in palatability for the less preferred solution across the different sessions as measured by lick microstructure analysis. In contrast to previous research, predictive cues in both food restricted and free-fed rats were sufficient for ANC to develop although flavor-driven ANC did not relate to a corresponding change in lick patterning. These differences in the lick microstructure between context- and flavor-driven ANC indicate that the motivational processes underlying ANC generated by the two predictor types are distinct. Moreover, an increase in premature port entries to the unavailable sipper – a second measure of ANC – in all groups reveals a direct influence of response competition on ANC development

Targeting different types of human meningioma and glioma cells using a novel adenoviral vector expressing GFP-TRAIL fusion protein from hTERT promoter

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of Ad/gTRAIL (an adenoviral vector in which expression of GFP and TRAIL is driven by a human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter, hTERT) on malignant meningiomas and gliomas.</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gliomas and meningiomas are the two most common types of human brain tumors. Currently there is no effective cure for recurrent malignant meningiomas or for gliomas. Ad/gTRAIL has been shown to be effective in killing selected lung, colon and breast cancer cells, but there have been no studies reporting its antitumor effects on malignant meningiomas. Therefore, we tested the antitumor effect of Ad/gTRAIL for the first time in human malignant meningioma and glioma cell lines, and in intracranial M6 and U87 xenografts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Materials and Methods: Human malignant meningioma and glioma cells were infected with adenoviruses, Ad/gTRAIL and Ad/CMV-GFP. Cell viability was determined by proliferation assay. FACS analysis and quantification of TRAIL were used to measure apoptosis in these cells. We injected Ad/gTRAIL viruses in intracranial M6 and U87 xenografts, and measured the brain tumor volume, quantified apoptosis by TUNEL assay in the brain tumor tissue.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our studies demonstrate that in vitro/in vivo treatment with Ad/gTRAIL virus resulted in significant increase of TRAIL activity, and elicited a greater tumor cell apoptosis in malignant brain tumor cells as compared to treatment with the control, Ad/CMV-GFP virus without TRAIL activity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We showed for the first time that adenovirus Ad/gTRAIL had significant antitumor effects against high grade malignant meningiomas as well as gliomas. Although more work needs to be done, our data suggests that Ad/gTRAIL has the potential to be useful as a tool against malignant brain tumors.</p

Sibling comparisons elucidate the associations between educational attainment polygenic scores and alcohol, nicotine and cannabis.

Background and aimsThe associations between low educational attainment and substance use disorders (SUDs) may be related to a common genetic vulnerability. We aimed to elucidate the associations between polygenic scores for educational attainment and clinical criterion counts for three SUDs (alcohol, nicotine and cannabis).DesignPolygenic association and sibling comparison methods. The latter strengthens inferences in observational research by controlling for confounding factors that differ between families.SettingSix sites in the United States.ParticipantsEuropean ancestry participants aged 25 years and older from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Polygenic association analyses included 5582 (54% female) participants. Sibling comparisons included 3098 (52% female) participants from 1226 sibling groups nested within the overall sample.MeasurementsOutcomes included criterion counts for DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUDSX), Fagerström nicotine dependence (NDSX) and DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (CUDSX). We derived polygenic scores for educational attainment (EduYears-GPS) using summary statistics from a large (&gt; 1 million) genome-wide association study of educational attainment.FindingsIn polygenic association analyses, higher EduYears-GPS predicted lower AUDSX, NDSX and CUDSX [P &lt; 0.01, effect sizes (R2 ) ranging from 0.30 to 1.84%]. These effects were robust in sibling comparisons, where sibling differences in EduYears-GPS predicted all three SUDs (P &lt; 0.05, R2 0.13-0.20%).ConclusionsIndividuals who carry more alleles associated with educational attainment tend to meet fewer clinical criteria for alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use disorders, and these effects are robust to rigorous controls for potentially confounding factors that differ between families (e.g. socio-economic status, urban-rural residency and parental education)

Exploring the relationship between polygenic risk for cannabis use, peer cannabis use, and the longitudinal course of cannabis involvement

Background and aims: Few studies have explored how polygenic propensity to cannabis use unfolds across development, and no studies have yet examined this question in the context of environmental contributions such as peer cannabis use. Outlining the factors that contribute to progression from cannabis initiation to problem use over time may ultimately provide insights into mechanisms for targeted interventions. We sought to examine the relationships between polygenic liability for cannabis use, cannabis use trajectories across ages 12–30, and perceived peer cannabis use at ages 12–17. Design: Mixed effect logistic and linear regressions were used to examine associations between polygenic risk scores, cannabis use trajectory membership, and perceived peer cannabis use. Setting: USA Participants: From the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) study, a cohort of 1,167 individuals aged 12–26 years at their baseline (i.e., first) interview. Measurements: Key measurements included lifetime cannabis use (yes/no), frequency of past 12-month cannabis use, maximum lifetime frequency of cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (using DSM-5 criteria), and perceived peer cannabis use. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were created using summary statistics from a large (N = 162,082) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of cannabis use. Three trajectories reflecting no/low (n=844), moderate (n=137) and high (n=186) use were identified. PRS were significantly associated with trajectory membership (p=0.002 – 0.006, maximum conditional R2 = 0.014, ORs = 1.40 – 1.49). Individuals who reported that most/all of their best friends used cannabis had significantly higher PRS than those who reported that none of their friends were users (OR = 1.35, 95% C.I. = [1.04, 1.75], p = 0.023). Perceived peer use itself explained up to 11.3% of the variance in trajectory class membership (OR: 1.50 – 4.65). When peer cannabis use and the cannabis use PRS were entered into the model simultaneously, both the PRS and peer use continued to be significantly associated with class membership (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Genetic propensity to cannabis use derived from heterogeneous samples appears to correlate with longitudinal increases in cannabis use frequency in young adults

Early Sexual Trauma Exposure and Neural Response Inhibition in Adolescence and Young Adults: Trajectories of Frontal Theta Oscillations During a Go/No-Go Task

Objective Trauma, particularly when experienced early in life, can alter neurophysiologic and behavioral development, thereby increasing risk for substance use disorders and related psychopathology. However, few studies have empirically examined trauma using well-characterized developmental samples that are followed longitudinally. Method The association of assaultive, non-assaultive, and sexual assaultive experiences before 10 years of age with developmental trajectories of brain function during response inhibition was examined by measuring electrophysiologic theta and delta oscillations during no-go and go conditions in an equal probability go/no-go task. Data were drawn from the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) prospective cohort, composed of offspring from high-risk and comparison families who were 12 to 22 years old at enrollment, with follow-ups at 2-year intervals since 2004. In addition, other important predictors of neurophysiologic functioning (eg, substance use, impulsivity, and parental alcohol use disorders) were investigated. Moreover, associations of neurophysiologic functioning with alcohol and cannabis use disorder symptom counts and externalizing and internalizing psychopathology were examined. Results Individuals exposed to sexual assaultive trauma before 10 years of age had slower rates of change in developmental trajectories of no-go frontal theta during response inhibition. Importantly, effects remained significant after accounting for exposure to other traumatic exposures, such as parental history of alcohol use disorder and participants’ substance use, but not measures of impulsivity. Further, slower rates of change in no-go frontal theta adolescent and young adult development were associated with increased risk for alcohol use disorder symptoms and internalizing psychopathology, but not for cannabis use disorder symptoms or externalizing psychopathology. Conclusion Childhood sexual assault is associated with atypical frontal neurophysiologic development during response inhibition. This could reflect alterations in frontal lobe development, synaptic pruning, and/or cortical maturation involving neural circuits for inhibitory control. These same areas could be associated with increased risk for young adult alcohol use disorder symptoms and internalizing psychopathology. These findings support the hypothesis that changes in neurocognitive development related to early sexual trauma exposure could increase the risk for mental health and substance use problems in young adulthood