Unraveling Perceived Ethnic Density Effects and Recontextualizing Acculturation: The cases of Student and Russian-Speaking Immigrants to Montreal

Social context has often been neglected in recent social and culturally focused psychology research (Oishi, Keisibir, & Snyder, 2009; Van de Vijver & Leung, 2000). The immigrant acculturation literature is no exception. Research linking acculturation to adjustment has been permeated with inconsistent results, partly due to differences in methodologies, settings, and samples between studies (see Trickett Persky & Espino, 2009). A potential avenue towards resolving these inconsistencies is to study acculturation in ecological context. Ethnic Density (ED), the concentration of immigrants of the same ethnicity residing in an area, is one such ecological variable. ED has generally been associated with better mental health, but again there are paradoxical findings and the mechanisms of the ED effect are rarely addressed (Shaw et al., 2012). Since ED and acculturation phenomena are seldom combined in research (cf. Kwag, Jang, & Chiriboga, 2012) an attempt was made to remedy this situation in the current investigations. Two studies attempted to unpack the mediating mechanisms of the perceived local area ED effect and contextualize acculturation-adjustment relations in Montreal. The first, utilizing a heterogeneous group of student immigrants (N=146), found that ED protected participants against depression via reduced discrimination. Furthermore, ED moderated the relation between heritage acculturation and depression, suggesting a person-environment match: immigrants tended to benefit from heritage acculturation living in a high but not low ED context. The second, a community study of Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union (N=269), aimed to replicate and extend these findings. A multi-item measure of perceived ED was developed and validated against an objective indicator. Again, an indirect effect of ED was found, but this time for general distress through acquiring social support. Moreover, heritage acculturation was double moderated by perceived ED and length of neighbourhood residence. This interaction indicated an ethnic density-heritage acculturation match but for more recent neighbourhood residents. A different relation emerged for established neighbourhood residents, where low ED was associated with more symptoms, especially for those low on heritage culture affiliation. In neither study did mainstream acculturation interact with ED to predict adjustment. The findings support studying acculturation in ecological context, and suggest that heritage acculturation is relevant to adjustment in Montreal, a unique city with more than one dominant culture. Future research directions as well as clinical and prevention implications are discussed

Visualization Tool for Control Signalling in NG-PON2

The requirements of end users on the quality of Internet connection and services is forcing the Internet providersand technical community to propose and introduce new technologies which may react to this demand. The most promising solution in this regard seems to be a passive optical network. There are many standards and recommendations provided by the organizations IEEE and ITU-T, such as EPON, GEPON, G-PON, XG-PON, and newly added NG-PON2 described in the ITU-T G.989 recommendation. Due to the implementation of TWDM mechanism the recommendation describes additionalcontrol messages to manage the whole network. This leads us to a need for a visualization tool which clearly shows control message flows and events between ONU and OLT units for each state. The application, designed by the authors and developed in C# programming language, is mainly focused on education purposes, but could be also useful to skilled industry professionals and in general those who have read the standard but are not fully familiar with the sequence of data flow in NG-PON2

Social capital and the COVID-19 pandemic threat: The Russian experience

Social capital is an important resource for the wellbeing of both the individual and society. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have been conducted to explore the role of social capital in coping with the negative consequences of the pandemic. However, how the pandemic itself can affect the social capital of people has yet to be studied. Try to fill this gap, we aimed at testing the association between the individually perceived coronavirus threat and such indicators of social capital as general social trust, institutional trust, and the quality of various types of people's social relationships (with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, residents of a locality, residents of a country). Data were collected in different regions of the Russian Federation for a convenience sample of 500 respondents. The study found that the individually perceived coronavirus threat was positively associated with institutional trust, but not with general social trust. Moreover, this covariation was moderated by age: an institutional trust-threat relation emerged only in older respondents with an average age of around 60, but not in younger participants. Furthermore, the study found that perceived coronavirus threat was associated with closer relationships in the family, but simultaneously with an increased distance in relations with neighbors and residents of the respondents' locality. In summary, the study indicated that “strong” ties (i.e., with family, colleagues, and friends) either remained unchanged or were intensified in the face of the pandemic threat, whereas “weak” ties (i.e., with neighbors, residents of the same locality, and fellow citizens) tended to weaken even more

Understanding the Role of Ethnic Density Effect: Issues of Acculturation, Discrimination and Social Support

Ecological factors in psychological acculturation research are often neglected, although recent work suggests that context and acculturation may interact in predicting adaptation outcomes. The ethnic density effect—the protective effect related to a greater proportion of people from the same ethnic group living in a particular neighborhood—might be one such ecological candidate. The current study integrates these constructs by unpacking the perceived ethnic density effect and examining how it is related to acculturation in a diverse sample (N = 146) of immigrant students in Montreal, Canada. It was found that the negative relation between perceived ethnic density and depression was mediated by discrimination but not by social support. Furthermore, a crossover interaction indicated that heritage acculturation was protective against depression for those residing in ethnically concentrated neighborhoods but not for those living in ethnically sparse neighborhoods. This strongly supports an ecology–acculturation fit, highlighting the need to contextualize acculturation research

Russians in Treatment: The Evidence Base Supporting Cultural Adaptations

Objective: Despite large waves of westward migration, little is known about how to adapt services to assist Russian-speaking immigrants. In an attempt to bridge the scientist-practitioner gap, the current review synthesizes diverse literatures regarding what is known about immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. Method: Relevant empirical studies and reviews from cross-cultural and cultural psychology, sociology, psychiatric epidemiology, mental health, management, linguistics, history, and anthropology literature were synthesized into three broad topics: culture of origin issues, common psychosocial challenges, and clinical recommendations. Results: Russian speakers probably differ in their form of collectivism, gender relations, emotion norms, social support, and parenting styles from what many clinicians are familiar with and exhibit an apparent paradoxical mix of modern and traditional values. While some immigrant groups from the Former Soviet Union are adjusting well, others have shown elevated levels of depression, somatization, and alcoholism, which can inform cultural adaptations. Conclusions: Testable assessment and therapy adaptations for Russians were outlined based on integrating clinical and cultural psychology perspectives

Toward an Ecological Perspective of Interethnic Ideologies: Moderation Effects of Ethnic Density on Relationships between Interethnic Ideologies and Intergroup Bias

Introduction. In this exploratory study, we examined several interethnic ideologies held by individuals (assimilation, colorblindness, multiculturalism, and polyculturalism) from a social ecological perspective. We examined moderation effects of neighborhood ethnic density (ED) on relationships between interethnic ideologies and intergroup bias towards various minority ethnic groups in the Russian context. Intergroup bias was assessed as a composite score of bias toward four ethnic groups who have different cultural distances from the Russian mainstream population: Chechens, Belarusians, Uzbeks, and Chinese. Method. We obtained a gender balanced sample of ethnic Russians from the Central Federal District of Russia (N = 359) comprising of 47% women and 53% men. The measures were used in a Russian translation by an adaptation using the back-translation and cognitive interviews. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationships. Results. The results showed that high perceived neighborhood non-Russian ED weakened negative relations between intergroup bias and ideologies that purportedly accept cultural diversity (multiculturalism and polyculturalism). On the other hand, for interethnic ideologies those purportedly reject cultural diversity, high perceived neighborhood non-Russian ED weakened the positive relations between intergroup bias and assimilation and strengthened the negative relations between intergroup bias and colorblindness. Summary and Conclusions. The pattern of results suggests that the relationship between attitudes and intergroup bias may change based on the perceived ethnic composition of the local area and frequency of contacts. Although our findings are relatively novel they support the emerging view that attitudes and intergroup relations need to be studied from a social ecological context

Unraveling ethnic density effects, acculturation, and adjustment: The case of Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union

There has been limited advancement in the empirical literature unpacking the ethnic density effect, a social ecological phenomenon that may help explain some of the conflicting findings in bidimensional acculturation research. In this study, we developed a brief measure of perceived ethnic density in a community sample of Russian-speaking immigrants (N =269) in Montreal, Canada, finding it to be a superior predictor of distress to objective linguistic density. Acquiring social support partly mediated the relation between perceived ethnic density and lower distress. Furthermore, the relation between heritage acculturation and distress was double moderated by perceived ethnic density and time lived in the neighborhood.A person–ecology match involving heritage acculturation and ethnic density was related to better psychological adjustment for participants who had resided in their neighborhood for less than, but not more than, 2 years.Clinical and community research implications for using measures of perceived ethnic density and acculturation measurement are discussed

The efficacy of augmented reality exposure therapy in the treatment of spider phobia—a randomized controlled trial

The evidence for the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in treating specific phobias has been growing. However, issues of accessibility persist, especially in developing countries. The current study examined a novel, but relatively simple therapist guided smartphone-based AR Exposure Treatment (ARET) of spider phobia. Participants who reported symptoms of Arachnophobia were randomized into one of three comparison groups: ARET (n = 20), traditional in vivo exposure therapy (IVET; n = 18) and a waitlist control group (n = 17). Behavioral approach, subjective symptom measures, and galvanic skin response were assessed pre- and post-treatment. The study was concluded with a one-month follow up assessment. Results indicated that both treatment groups showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in behavioral approach at post-test that were maintained at 1 month follow- up, compared to the wait-listed group. Moreover, the treatment groups demonstrated significant improvements in subjective symptom report at 1-month follow up. Given its utility and potential accessibility, our findings suggest that future AR evaluation research could be conducted in therapy settings with minimal resources

Adapting mental health services to the COVID-19 pandemic: reflections from professionals in four countries

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the lives of a majority of the world’s population. People have been encouraged to implement social distancing behaviors enforced by governments, and have experienced loss of employment or changes to their usual working environment. In the mental health sector, psychologists and psychiatrists have been forced to alter the standard care of patients without compromising safety. This article documents the experiences of the authors–mental health professionals in four countries, Canada, Russia, Australia and Japan–at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations on how clinical, training, and research practices may need to be adjusted to deal with lockdown situations. Clinicians adapted their usual best practices by learning new skills and updating their knowledge base. Mental health clinicians noticed that the pandemic led to symptomatic changes in some of their patients. Most clinicians moved towards providing telemental health services, such as conducting assessments and treatments remotely. Those who continued seeing patients in person employed personal protective equipment with various impacts on the clinician–patient relationship. The dilemmas of mass quarantines need to be carefully examined, as their effects on numerous health and psychosocial variables appear to be far-reaching