Being Trans: An interpretative phenomenological study of young adults

Social structures assume a binary classification of gender whereby people are expected to accept the female or male gender expectations and gender roles commonly associated with their biological sex. However, gender identity and gender expression are personal experiences which do not necessarily align with the sex assigned to a person at birth. Young adults who identify as trans resist the predictable relationships and boundaries of sex and gender by embracing diverse gender identities and expressions. Research acknowledging more favourable life experiences of trans youth is limited, despite the importance of a sound knowledge base necessary to provide a positive and affirmative environment within clinical practice. The lived experiences of trans youth was explored using an interpretative phenomenological framework to understand the personal meanings of the participants’ world view in relation to positive experiences. Ten participants between the ages of 18 and 24 years were interviewed, guided by a semi-structured interview schedule. Thematic analysis was conducted to find repeated patterns of meaning amongst the interview transcripts. Three overarching themes were identified and discussed: (1) identity validation, (2) a desire to speak out, and (3) identifying evidence of social change. Implications and future directions were discussed in light of contemporary media use to facilitate affirmative practices and for practitioners to heighten their awareness of the significance of gender in their own lives

CURIOS: Connecting Community Heritage through Linked Data

Peer reviewedPostprin

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between emotional stress reactivity and psychosis

AimEmotional stress reactivity may be a mediating factor in the association between trauma and psychosis. This review aimed to (i) identify, summarise and critically evaluate the link between emotional stress reactivity and psychotic experiences (ii) examine evidence for a 'dose–response' relationship between stress reactivity and psychosis in the wider psychosis phenotype (i.e., sub-clinical symptoms).MethodsElectronic database searches (PsychINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE) were conducted for studies which investigated the link between stress reactivity and psychosis, psychotic symptoms, or a vulnerability to developing psychosis (wider phenotype). Cross-sectional, experimental and experience sampling method study designs were eligible for inclusion.ResultsFourty five eligible articles were identified (N participants = 8830). Narrative synthesis showed that increased emotional stress reactivity was associated with psychosis and subclinical psychotic experiences across all study designs, however, findings were inconsistent across studies. The preliminary meta-analysis (k = 4, n = 383) showed increases in emotional stress reactivity was associated with higher negative affect in response to event-related stress, in those with psychosis compared to controls (mean difference in beta coefficients = 0.05, 95% CI 0.02–0.08, p = .004). However, this difference was small with a considerable degree of heterogeneity (p = .001, I2 = 81%) so results should be interpreted with caution.ConclusionsOverall, the evidence suggests that there is a link between emotional stress reactivity and psychosis in those with psychosis, those at high risk of developing psychosis and in relation to subclinical psychotic-like experiences in the general population

Guilt, shame and expressed emotion in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties:a systematic review

Expressed emotion (EE) is a global index of familial emotional climate, whose primary components are emotional over-involvement (EOI) and critical comments (CC)/hostility. There is a strong theoretical rationale for hypothesising that carers’ guilt and shame may be differentially associated with their EOI and CC/hostility respectively. This systematic review investigates the magnitude of these theorised associations in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties. Electronic searches (conducted in May 2016 across Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and ProQuest) were supplemented with iterative hand searches. Ten papers, reporting data from eight studies, were included. Risk of bias was assessed using a standardised checklist. Relevant data were extracted and synthesised narratively. EOI was positively associated with both guilt and shame, whereas CC/hostility was positively associated with shame. The strength of associations varied depending on whether or not guilt and shame were assessed within the context of the caring relationship. Based on these data, an argument can be made for the refinement, development and evaluation of systemic and individual interventions designed to target carers’ guilt and shame. However, more research is needed to clarify the strength of these associations and their direction of effect before firm conclusions can be drawn

Teacher quality, recruitment, and retention: Rapid Evidence Assessment

This rapid evidence assessment identifies areas for future research on teacher quality, recruitment and retention, with the aim of informing the focus of the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF’s) future research commissioning on this topic. Given that ensuring access to quality teaching for disadvantaged pupils is expected to be a key mechanism for narrowing the disadvantage gap in attainment, there is a strong rationale for the EEF to build the evidence base on the recruitment and retention of quality teachers. The report set out to scope the field and summarise existing evidence on this topic. The report also identifies gaps in the research; for example, areas that have been researched qualitatively but not investigated experimentally or developed into a testable intervention. The rapid evidence assessment includes two reviews, each summarising a key area of research: - Review 1 focused on measures of (or proxies for) teacher quality commonly used in the literature. - Review 2 focused on strategies for the recruitment, retention and distribution of quality teachers to schools serving disadvantaged communities