The Experiential, Sexual, and Clinical Dimensions of Female Bisexuality in Canada: What are the Implications of Being In-between Monosexualities?

Female bisexuality has been understudied and it is unclear how it is most adequately defined. Although it has been found bisexual women face mental health disparities compared to lesbian and heterosexual women, there is a lack of research examining risk and resilience factors. This dissertation sheds light on why female bisexuality has been understudied and provides findings relevant to bisexual women’s sexuality and mental health. Manuscript I, a review, suggests that an “imposed invisibility” of female bisexuality is related to the simplicity of using dichotomous sexual orientation categories, the gay movement’s desire to establish homosexuality as constitutional, feminist lesbians’ fight against patriarchy, and queer theorists’ neglect of including bisexuality in their discourse. Manuscripts II to IV include data, collected over a three-year period, from a confidential online survey including 388 women living in Canada (188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian). The survey included questions about demographics, substance abuse, childhood abuse, sexual orientation/ identity/behaviour, sexual/romantic/emotional attractions, sexual arousal/desire/orgasm, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Manuscript II compared the sexual and emotional characteristics of bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual women and provides suggestions about how to define female bisexuality. Manuscript III compared subjective ratings of sexual arousal and desire in partnered sexual activities for women of five sexual orientation groups. Findings indicate non-monosexual women have higher sexual arousal and desire in sexual activities with women than monosexual women, and that bisexual women do not differentiate their sexual arousal with men versus women while the other sexual orientation groups differentiate in terms of their motivation to engage in sexual activity. Manuscript IV investigated whether the association between sexual orientation and mental health is moderated by childhood abuse, and mediated by risky sexual behaviour and sexual orientation disclosure for monosexual versus non-monosexual women. Findings suggest childhood abuse is not a moderator but that increased risky sexual behaviour and decreased sexual orientation disclosure mediate the association for bisexual women. Results of this dissertation have implications for the measurement of female bisexuality, the conceptualization of female sexual orientation, and the identification of risk factors associated with bisexual women’s mental health

Teacher-youth inter-informant agreement on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a community sample of refugee and immigrant adolescents in Montreal

Early detection and treatment of psychological problems amongst refugee and immigrant youth is crucial to improve their developmental outcomes and their social integration. Multiple informants approach is a standard practice in detecting psychological problems. Based on its extensive empirical use, this approach is recommended in order to avoid bias or misinterpretation during the assessment of the youth mental health needs. However, very few studies have investigated the inter-informant agreement between teachers and youth in a multiethnic context. The current study explores teacher-youth inter-informant agreement in a culturally heterogeneous sample of refugee and immigrant adolescents from three high schools in Montreal. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was administered to 113 recently arrived migrant adolescents (female, n = 55; male, n= 58) to assess their own emotional and behavioural symptoms. The SDQ was also administered to their teachers (n = 7) so that a comparison between self- and teacher reports could be made. Teacher-youth agreement was significant for the Emotional symptoms subscale, but this inter-informant agreement was significant for males only. These results underscore the need to raise school personnel awareness about potential undetected emotional problems in newly arrived refugee and immigrant female adolescents

Not just hardship- a qualitative study of how The Childrens House employees are affected by their work, and how they can best be cared for?

Studiens formål er å undersøke hvordan ansatte tilknyttet Statens Barnehus opplever at arbeidet med traumeutsatte barn og unge påvirker deres mentale helse, samt hvilke faktorer som oppleves som beskyttende mot arbeidets belastninger. Studien inkluderer data fra 11 dybdeintervju med politiavhørere, psykologer og seniorrådgivere tilknyttet ulike Barnehus i Norge. Systematisk tekstkondensering ble brukt for å analysere data. Studiens resultater viser at ansatte tilknyttet Statens Barnehus opplever at eksponeringen for traumeutsatte barn og unge både har negativ og positiv innvirkning på deres mentale helse. En rekke organisatoriske, psykososiale og individuelle faktorer blir trukket frem som beskyttende. Respondentene beskrev arbeidets positive komponenter som mer fremtredende enn de negative, gitt at bestemte beskyttende forhold lå til rette. Resultatene gir viktige implikasjoner for hvordan ansatte som arbeider med traumeutsatte barn og unge best mulig kan ivaretas

Reply to: Are stressful childhood experiences relevant in non monosexual women?

We thank the commentator for his thoughtful response (Schneeberger, 2015) to our study entitled, “Explaining Mental Health Disparities for Non-monosexual Women: Abuse History and Risky Sex, or the Burdens of Non-disclosure?” (Persson et al., 2014) To summarize, Schneeberger (2015) highlights three aspects of our methodological approach: (1) how the participants were grouped; (2) how sexual orientation was evaluated; and (3) how a history of childhood abuse was assessed. We will reflect on these three issues while further considering future research directions in the study of female sexual orientation and childhood abuse

Närståendes erfarenheter av att närvara vid hjärt-lungräddning : En litteraturstudie

Bakgrund: I Sverige drabbas cirka 13 000 personer varje år av hjärtstopp. Det rekommenderas att erbjuda närstående att närvara vid hjärt-lungräddning enligt europeiska riktlinjer. Trots dessa rekommendationer har tidigare studier visat att vårdpersonal ofta har en negativ inställning kring detta, vilket grundar sig i en oro att närvarandet kan vara traumatiskt men också på grund av personal- och platsbrist. Utifrån detta finns det ett behov av att öka kunskapen kring närståendes erfarenheter. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva närståendes erfarenheter av att närvara vid hjärt-lungräddning. Metod: Den studiedesign som har valts att användas i den här studien är litteraturstudie. Studien är baserad på tolv artiklar med både kvalitativ och kvantitativ design. Artiklarna är hämtade från två vetenskapliga databaser PubMed och CINAHL. I analysen används en integrerad analys. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i två kategorier: Att vara närvarande vid hjärt-lungräddning och information och stöd samt sex underkategorier: Betydelsen av att närvara, Närstående till ett barn som drabbats av hjärtstopp, Känslor av overklighet, Psykisk ohälsa efter att ha närvarat, Närståendes erfarenheter av information och stöd samt Närståendes erfarenheter av brist på information och stöd. Slutsats: Närstående som närvarar vid hjärt-lungräddning erfor passivitet men även känslor så som panik och chock. Det fanns även en känsla av otillräcklig stöttning och information av vårdpersonalen. Trots detta erfor en stor del av de närstående det som positivt att närvara. Resultatet bidrar till förståelse och vikten av ett systematiskt förhållningssätt vid omhändertagandet av den drabbade.

The mental health of minors exposed to war and organized violence

Little is known about the effectiveness of non-stigmatizing mental health interventions aimed at reducing or preventing the harmful impact of armed conflict on children, and how war affects the mental health of both non-resettled and resettled minors. This thesis presents, through a literature review, what is known about school-based interventions for minors living in war-exposed countries. Second, it investigates by an empirical study, how exposure to trauma is associated with increased risk for psychological symptoms in recently arrived migrant adolescents to Canada. Existing evidence for school-based programs as a means to reduce distress is promising. In general, recently resettled migrant youth may not be at risk. However, exposure to pre-migratory trauma predicts more emotional problems. Assessing how exposure to adverse events in the pre-migratory phase may be related to psychological adjustment immediately following resettlement may identify the needs of recently arrived migrant children and inform the design of school-based programmes.Peu est connu sur l'efficacité de la non-stigmatisation des interventions de santé mentale visant à réduire ou prévenir les effets néfastes des conflits armés sur les enfants, et comment la guerre affecte la santé mentale des mineurs non-réinstallés et réinstallés. L'objectif de cette thèse est, dans un premier temps, d'établir au travers d'une étude bibliographique, les données existantes concernant les programmes de prévention en milieu scolaire pour les mineurs vivant dans des zones de conflit. Dans un deuxième temps, une étude empirique viendra analyser les répercussions de l'expérience du traumatisme quant à l'apparition de troubles psychologiques sur les adolescents migrants récemment arrivés au Canada. La littérature existante met en exergue le caractère prometteur des programmes de prévention en milieu scolaire, en montrant, que dans bien des cas, ils constituent un élément d'apaisement. De manière générale, les jeunes migrants nouvellement établis ne forment pas une population à risque. Cependant, le fait d'être confronté à un traumatisme prédispose à davantage de problèmes émotionnels. Déterminer la manière dont l'exposition à des événements éprouvants, dans la phase précédant la migration, peut engendrer des ajustements psychologiques immédiatement après l'installation, pourrait permettre d'identifier les besoins des enfants migrants nouvellement arrivés. Cela permettrait également de développer des programmes appropriés au milieu scolaire

Ikke bare elendighet - en kvalitativ studie om hvordan ansatte tilknyttet Statens Barnehus påvirkes av jobben, og hvordan de best kan ivaretas

Studiens formål er å undersøke hvordan ansatte tilknyttet Statens Barnehus opplever at arbeidet med traumeutsatte barn og unge påvirker deres mentale helse, samt hvilke faktorer som oppleves som beskyttende mot arbeidets belastninger. Studien inkluderer data fra 11 dybdeintervju med politiavhørere, psykologer og seniorrådgivere tilknyttet ulike Barnehus i Norge. Systematisk tekstkondensering ble brukt for å analysere data. Studiens resultater viser at ansatte tilknyttet Statens Barnehus opplever at eksponeringen for traumeutsatte barn og unge både har negativ og positiv innvirkning på deres mentale helse. En rekke organisatoriske, psykososiale og individuelle faktorer blir trukket frem som beskyttende. Respondentene beskrev arbeidets positive komponenter som mer fremtredende enn de negative, gitt at bestemte beskyttende forhold lå til rette. Resultatene gir viktige implikasjoner for hvordan ansatte som arbeider med traumeutsatte barn og unge best mulig kan ivaretas

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Research has found that non-monosexual women report worse mental health than their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts. The reasons for these mental health discrepancies are unclear. This study investigated whether higher levels of child abuse and risky sexual behavior, and lower levels of sexual orientation disclosure, may help explain elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among non-monosexual women. Participants included 388 women living in Canada (Mean age = 24.40, SD = 6.40, 188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian) who filled out the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories as part of an online study running from April 2011 to February 2014. Participants were collapsed into non-monosexual versus monosexual categories. Non-monosexual women reported more child abuse, risky sexual behavior, less sexual orientation disclosure, and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than monosexual women. Statistical mediation analyses, using conditional process modeling, revealed that sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior uniquely, but not sequentially, mediated the relation between sexual orientation, depression and anxiety. Sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior were both associated with depression and anxiety. Childhood abuse did not moderate depression, anxiety, or risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate that elevated levels of risky sexual behavior and deflated levels of sexual orientation disclosure may in part explain mental health disparities among non-monosexual women. Results highlight potential targets for preventive interventions aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes for non-monosexual women, such as public health campaigns targeting bisexual stigma and the development of sex education programs for vulnerable sexual minority women, such as those defining themselves as bisexual, mostly heterosexual, or mostly lesbian

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Research has found that non-monosexual women report worse mental health than their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts. The reasons for these mental health discrepancies are unclear. This study investigated whether higher levels of child abuse and risky sexual behavior, and lower levels of sexual orientation disclosure, may help explain elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among non-monosexual women. Participants included 388 women living in Canada (Mean age = 24.40, SD = 6.40, 188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian) who filled out the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories as part of an online study running from April 2011 to February 2014. Participants were collapsed into non-monosexual versus monosexual categories. Non-monosexual women reported more child abuse, risky sexual behavior, less sexual orientation disclosure, and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than monosexual women. Statistical mediation analyses, using conditional process modeling, revealed that sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior uniquely, but not sequentially, mediated the relation between sexual orientation, depression and anxiety. Sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior were both associated with depression and anxiety. Childhood abuse did not moderate depression, anxiety, or risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate that elevated levels of risky sexual behavior and deflated levels of sexual orientation disclosure may in part explain mental health disparities among non-monosexual women. Results highlight potential targets for preventive interventions aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes for non-monosexual women, such as public health campaigns targeting bisexual stigma and the development of sex education programs for vulnerable sexual minority women, such as those defining themselves as bisexual, mostly heterosexual, or mostly lesbian