Keep your distance: People sit farther away from a man with schizophrenia versus diabetes

Although concrete behavior—such as avoidance, discrimination, rejection—is foundational to most definitions of stigma, knowledge of psychiatric stigma has been constructed mostly on the basis of measurement of self-reported attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. To help fill this gap, the current study examined avoidance behavior in psychiatric stigma. That is, we predicted that people would seek more physical distance from a man with a psychiatric problem than a man with a medical problem. One hundred fourteen undergraduates expected to meet a man with either Type II diabetes or schizophrenia. After completing several measures of self-reported stigma, participants eventually moved to an adjacent room and sat in one of several seats that systematically varied in their proximity to a seat ostensibly occupied by the target man. Results indicated that the expectation of meeting a man with schizophrenia, compared with diabetes, led to greater desired social distance, greater self-reported fear, and higher appraisals of the man’s dangerousness and unpredictability. More importantly, participants elected to sit farther away from the ostensible man with schizophrenia. This pattern of findings offers behavioral evidence of the psychiatric stigma phenomenon that has mostly been documented via measurement of self-reported attitudes and impressions. We hope that these results stimulate renewed interest in measuring stigma-relevant behavior in the laboratory setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved

Associations Between Concepts of the Family Management Style Framework, and Measures of Child Adherence to Treatment for Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Background: Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) is an underdiagnosed, autosomal dominant, monogenic condition affecting ~1:250 individuals in the United States (U.S.), resulting in cardiovascular events 10-20 years earlier than in unaffected peers. Sample: Fifty-one parents of youth aged 2-18 years followed for HeFH in a pediatric specialty clinic. Purpose: Assess parental perceptions of HeFH, child adherence to treatment, and parenting in HeFH-affected households. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational survey study congruent with elements of the Family Management Style Framework (FMSF). Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlations assessed linear relationships between parentally observed HeFH treatment adherence measures, parenting style, and parental perceptions of high cholesterol and risk for heart disease as applied to themselves or their families, and their children. Results: Participating parents were largely middle aged (mean 46.1 years, SD 5.6), mothers (78.4%), Caucasian (86.4%), highly educated (Bachelor’s or higher, 86.3%), and had personally received a diagnosis of genetically elevated high cholesterol (70%). Reference children were mostly adolescents (mean 13.4 years, SD 3.4), diagnosed with HeFH while school-aged (age 6.8 years, SD 4.1), and treated with a statin (80%). Median reported adherence to statins over past month was 94% (IQR 90-100). Missed doses were associated with forgetfulness (56.4%), carelessness (29%), or other reasons (41%). Illness perceptions differed between HeFH sub-concepts (high cholesterol and heart disease risk), respondent cholesterol status (+/-), and family position (parent/child). Patterns of association between illness perceptions and child treatment adherence, and illness perceptions and parenting styles, emerged along the same parameters. Parenting style generally did not directly correlate with observed child adherence, nor did child or family history with HeFH diagnosis and management. Conclusions: Parents largely reported adequate to excellent adherence to HeFH treatments among their children. High cholesterol and risk for heart disease were perceived differently and may be valuable individually in future research. Consistent with proposed relationships within the FMSF, adherence was correlated with many aspects of illness perceptions and varied by family position. Parenting styles were not directly correlated with adherence but were associated with illness perceptions within family positions, suggesting an avenue for moderation of the illness perceptions/adherence relationships deserving of further research

Specialists, Generalists, and Policy Advocacy by Charitable Nonprofit Organizations

Previous research finds modest levels of engagement in policy advocacy by charitable nonprofits, despite legal regulations permitting nonprofit advocacy and the significance of public policy to nonprofit constituencies. This paper examines nonprofit involvement in policy advocacy using survey data from Boston, Massachusetts. Nonprofit participation in policy advocacy is associated with professionalization, resource dependence, features of the institutional environment, and organizational characteristics such as size and mission. Drawing from population ecology theory, we examine an additional aspect of organizational mission: whether a nonprofit serves a specialized or general population. We find that nonprofits serving specialized populations are more likely to participate in policy advocacy than nonprofits serving the general population

Soil Erosion: Slope Lesson Plan

The soil-slope erosion model will be used in conjunction with Excel to demonstrate how slope affects the overall soil loss. Students will control the model by control the frequency of rain from the clouds, making it an interactive model. The primary file is a lesson plan, accompanied by supplemental files. In the supplemental zipped files, you will find: Student worksheets Lesson plan Powerpoint presentation

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bits: Archival Motivation in the Digital Age

Why do people become archivists? Historically (and anecdotally) it was a deep love of musty, old records that drew people to the profession. While there have been many other motivating forces that inspired would-be archivists, it is most often that one hears of people seeking jobs in archives for love of “the stuff,” as evidenced in Kate Thiemer’s blog post, Honest tips for wannabe archivists (2012). As a result of the continually advancing presence of digitized and born digital archival collections, the physical nature of archival “stuff” is changing. While there remains the physical imprint of digital information on floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, hard drives, and old computers; the aspects of these physical artifacts might not evoke the same visceral pull to the profession as musty, raspy, paper-based documents. In light of this shift in physical presentation of information, we are faced with the question: how does love of archival “stuff” translate to work in digital archives? What is and/or will be the pull to become a digital archivist? To answer these questions, we will perform a survey-based study where we will invite archivists who work with both traditional and digital archival material to answer questions related to the aspects of their work that inspired or motivated them to join the profession. What motivates people to become archivists? What aspects of digital archives do or can potentially motivate people to seek out a career as an archivist? What, if any, motivational factors for becoming a traditional archivist are the same as those for becoming a digital archivist? What, if any, motivational factors for becoming a traditional archivist are different from those for becoming a digital archivist? By answering these questions, we hope to expand the archival discussion on what it means to be an archivist in the digital age. What compelling intrinsic, evidential, or informational values are present in digital archival content that will draw professionals to the field? Are there other values inherent in digital content that are currently unexplored? In our poster, we will present our discussion of the topic, our survey design, and results we have at the time of the Institute. Thiemer, K. (2012). Honest tips for wannabe archivists. Archivesnext blog. Retrieved from http://www.archivesnext.com/?p=284

Counselor Educator, Supervisor, and Practitioner Perspectives on Distance Counseling and Telemental Health Training and Practice

As distance counseling and telemental health practices continue to grow, it is unclear how counselor training programs are responding to the change or how frequently supervisors and practitioners utilize distance modalities. Counseling professionals (N =103) were surveyed to examine their perceptions of distance counseling training and practice. Respondents indicated multiple roles as Counselor Educators (CE, n = 74), Counseling Supervisors (CS, n = 61), and Counseling Practitioners (CP, n = 86). The majority of CE expressed dissatisfaction with amount of distance counseling content in their training program yet felt confident to teach distance counseling and TMH concepts. Personal experience with distance supervision or distance counseling was low among CS and CP, although these groups exhibited high confidence in practicing distance supervision and distance counseling. Nearly all respondents had sought additional professional development training in distance counseling and/or TMH. The findings emphasize a need for consistency in TMH professional development training, as well as opportunities to infuse distance counseling content into student training programs and curricula

Spectroscopic Behavior of Composite, Black Thermal Paint, Solar Cell, and Multi-layered Insulation Materials in a GEO Simulated Environment

Materials currently populating Earth orbital regimes can be distinguished by comparing remote observational data to that of optical material measurements obtained in the laboratory. Experimentation for this research primarily involved the acquisition of spectroscopic measurements on materials of interest to the telescopic observational community for enhanced space situational awareness. Common spacecraft materials worthy of preeminent analysis for this investigation include a carbon-carbon (c-c) matrix composite, various black thermal paints, a GPS solar cell and three different cover glass components. These materials were subjected to a simulated geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) space environment with the intent of observing material optical property behavior over quantitative exposure time. The aforementioned materials have been measured in their pristine and GEO simulated exposed conditions. A reflectance spectrometer and a bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) optical system have been operated to perform material characterization, optical property analysis, and to further compare such data to telescopic observational data acquired on equal materials

Spectroscopic Behavior of Composite, Black Thermal Paint, Solar Cell, and Multi-Layered Insulation Materials in a GEO Simulated Environment

The population of objects orbiting Earth is dominated by orbital debris. The following study presents reflectance spectroscopic measurements and bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) evaluations taken on common spacecraft materials (Table 1), some of which are likely candidates in the orbital debris population. Their optical properties were assessed in their pristine conditions, as well as after exposure in a space environmental chamber used to simulate space weathering. The materials studied will prove that they have excellent properties in resisting the effects of damage that are common in both low Earth orbit and geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) based on the research discussed in this work

Last Straw: The Effect of Guilt on Pro-Environmental Behavior

Honorable Mention Winner Although many environmental campaigns have pushed to eliminate plastic straws from daily consumption, concerns have surfaced that an increase in the simple behavior of refusing plastic straws will generate less action toward more effective pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). This study implemented a guilt manipulation to urge participants to reduce their straw use and tested spillover effects to various household and travel PEBs. 234 Mturk participants (34% women) indicated their current PEBs at Time 1 and were randomly assigned to the guilt condition or a control condition. One week later (Time 2), participants completed a survey of the same measures, with 184 participants completing an identical survey three months later (Time 3). Results showed that, although the guilt manipulation did not affect straw use, a reduction in straw use positively spilled over to all PEBs at Time 2, with indirect effects through environmental identity for multiple PEBs. Several spillover effects had diminished by Time 3. The results show it is necessary to consider environmental identity when investigating PEB spillover and that negative spillover may not be a concern

Adult Current Smoking: Differences in Definitions and Prevalence Estimates—NHIS and NSDUH, 2008

Objectives. To compare prevalence estimates and assess issues related to the measurement of adult cigarette smoking in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Methods. 2008 data on current cigarette smoking and current daily cigarette smoking among adults ≥18 years were compared. The standard NHIS current smoking definition, which screens for lifetime smoking ≥100 cigarettes, was used. For NSDUH, both the standard current smoking definition, which does not screen, and a modified definition applying the NHIS current smoking definition (i.e., with screen) were used. Results. NSDUH consistently yielded higher current cigarette smoking estimates than NHIS and lower daily smoking estimates. However, with use of the modified NSDUH current smoking definition, a notable number of subpopulation estimates became comparable between surveys. Younger adults and racial/ethnic minorities were most impacted by the lifetime smoking screen, with Hispanics being the most sensitive to differences in smoking variable definitions among all subgroups. Conclusions. Differences in current cigarette smoking definitions appear to have a greater impact on smoking estimates in some sub-populations than others. Survey mode differences may also limit intersurvey comparisons and trend analyses. Investigators are cautioned to use data most appropriate for their specific research questions