43 research outputs found
Book: Venture into a New Realm of Cross-Cultural Psychology Meditation, Mantric Poetry, and Well-being: A Qualitative, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Disciplinary Exploration with American Secondary and Japanese Post-Secondary Adolescents
Higher well-being correlates positively with multiple psychological and social outcomes, including workplace success and better academic outcomes for students. Poetry and meditation, independently, have been demonstrated in prior studies to increase well-being in a variety of contexts, including physical and mental health challenges. To our knowledge, this is the only published cross-cultural study that merged contemplative practices and poetry within the well-being paradigm, particularly among general, non-clinical adolescent populations. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the use of meditation and mantric poetry in a cross-cultural, educational context. The materials included The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom to Guide your Life-Journey paperback and audiobook—a collection of poetry and prose to enhance positive emotions. A content analysis was conducted with post-secondary student essays and secondary students’ comments, subsequent to an experience of meditation and mantric poetry in their respective academic settings. Post-secondary students (n = 34) were enrolled in an English as a Second Language (ESL) course in Japan, and secondary students (n = 30) were enrolled in an English Language Arts (ELA) class in the United States. The most commonly occurring themes that emerged across the two cohorts were inner peace, happiness, life-changing experience, and overcoming a challenge
A Cross Cultural Perspective of Adherence for Racial/Ethnic Minority Women with HIV, Living in the United States
HIV persists as a global public health tragedy, as more than 36 million lives have been lost to HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis of HIV can be treated as a chronic disease, for those who adhere to their medication regimens and other health recommendations. However, for racial/ethnic minorities living in the United States, many of whom face a multitude of barriers, adherence to medications and medical appointments can be a challenge. For racial/ethnic minority women, specifically, gender roles, HIV stigma, racism, inconsistent access to healthcare, financial and food insecurity are just a few of the barriers they experience, which may interfere with their ability to adhere to medical treatment. For immigrant women, low language literacy, which is linked to health literacy, may further exacerbate these lives where staff and services provide culturally and linguistically competent services. This paper reports parts of a larger mixed-methods inquiry. The goal is part of larger study to develop an intervention for racial/ethnic minority women with HIV, living in the Southeastern region of the United States
Characteristics of African American Women and Their Partners With Perceived Concurrent Partnerships in 4 Rural Counties in the Southeastern US
Among African American women from four rural Southeastern counties, partner's concurrency was associated with intimate partner violence, and forced sex, but not economic benefit
Religiosity, Spirituality, and HIV Risk Behaviors among African American Women from Four Rural Counties in the Southeastern U.S.
In a cross- sectional survey of 1,013 African American women from rural Alabama and North Carolina, we examined the relationship of (1) organizational religiosity (i.e., religious service attendance), (2) non- organizational religiosity (e.g., reading religious materials), and (3) spirituality with these outcomes: women’s reports of their sexual behaviors and perceptions of their partners’ risk characteristics. Women with high non-organizational religiosity, compared with low, had fewer sex partners in the past 12 months (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 0.80) and were less likely to have concurrent partnerships (aPR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.73). Similar results were observed for spirituality, and protective but weaker associations were observed for organizational religiosity. Weak associations were observed between organizational religiosity, non- organizational religiosity, and spirituality with partners’ risk characteristics. Further exploration of how religiosity and spirituality are associated with protective sexual behaviors is needed to promote safe sex for African American women
Experience of Forced Sex and Subsequent Sexual, Drug, and Mental Health Outcomes: African American and Hispanic Women in the Southeastern United States
This cross-sectional study examined African American and Hispanic women’s (N = 1,509) self-reports of unwanted forced sex and its association with behavioral and mental health outcomes after the event
Enhancing the health of women living with HIV: the SMART/EST Women’s Project
The principal objective of these multisite studies (Florida, New York, New Jersey: epicenters for human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] among women) was to develop and implement effective combinations of behavioral interventions to optimize the health status of the most neglected and understudied population affected by the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the United States: poor women of color living with HIV. The two studies enrolled nearly 900 women randomly assigned to “high intensity” (cognitive–behavioral stress management training combined with expressive–supportive therapy [CBSM]+ group) or “low intensity” (individual psychoeducational program) treatment conditions over a period of 9 years. The initial study of the stress management and relaxation training/expressive–supportive therapy (SMART/EST) Women’s Project (SWP I) focused on reducing depression and anxiety, as well as improving self-efficacy and overall quality of life for women with case-defined AIDS. Findings from this study demonstrated the utility of CBSM+ in reducing distress (depression, anxiety) and denial, while improving social support, self-efficacy, coping skills, and quality of life. The second study (SWP II), which included all women living with HIV, extended these findings by demonstrating that exposure to CBSM+ significantly improved the ability of the participants to take advantage of a health behavior change program encouraging the adoption and maintenance of healthier lifestyle behaviors (high levels of medication adherence, appropriate nutritional intake and physical activity, safer sexual practices, and reduced alcohol use/abuse) essential for optimal health in the context of living with HIV. SWP II also determined that the intervention program was equally beneficial to less-acculturated segments of the affected population (ie, non-English speaking HIV+ women) through the creation of culturally and linguistically sensitive Spanish and Creole versions of the program. A third study (SWP III) is currently underway to “translate” this evidence-based treatment program into Community Health Centers in Miami, New York City, and metropolitan New Jersey
Sexual Risk Behaviors among African-American and Hispanic Women in Five Counties in the Southeastern United States: 2008–2009
We examined sexual risk behaviors and unrecognized HIV infection among heterosexually active African American (AA) and Hispanic women
Global maps of soil temperature
Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications
Global maps of soil temperature
Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications