Evaluating a Relationship Education Program with Incarcerated Adults

Research indicates healthy family relationships can reduce recidivism. More effort has been placed towards providing family life programming in prisons to promote healthy individual and relational functioning, yet only a handful of studies have evaluated and provided insight on relationship education (RE) for incarcerated adults. This study contributes to this emerging effort and examines changes following participation in a RE program, using a sample of 461 incarcerated men and women. Findings indicate significant improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms and conflict resolution skills. Additional tests of moderation of change by gender, relationship status, and child age revealed a greater change in individual functioning for those in a relationship compared to those who were not. Indications are that RE programs hold promise for contributing to better individual well-being and healthy relationships during incarceration and the potential for reducing recidivism incidence after re-entry

Engaging with a Prevention Approach: System Supports Needed in Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

Public policy has been shifting from child abuse and neglect (CAN) intervention toward prevention, using public health style frameworks, which emphasize shared community and legislative responsibilities to support families (Browne, 2014; CDC, 2014). Analysis of qualitative data from statewide focus groups held in 2019 in Alabama with 99 community-based CAN prevention workers shows strengths in community collaboration, but also, struggles to help families meet basic needs because of lack of community resources, such as transportation and quality child care, and other barriers, including stigma. The results demonstrate confusion between prevention, which is intended to build family resilience to avert crisis, and intervention, meant to reunite families after child protection services involvement. We recommend researchers consistently link CAN research to prevention frameworks so as to build meaningful understanding how to create better prevention programs. Future practitioners should understand prevention, and be prepared to document their work so as to demonstrate need

Comprehensive Control of Human Papillomavirus Infections and Related Diseases

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as one of the major causes of infection-related cancer worldwide, as well as the causal factor in other diseases. Strong evidence for a causal etiology with HPV has been stated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer for cancers of the cervix uteri, penis, vulva, vagina, anus and oropharynx (including base of the tongue and tonsils). Of the estimated 12.7 million new cancers occurring in 2008 worldwide, 4.8% were attributable to HPV infection, with substantially higher incidence and mortality rates seen in developing versus developed countries. In recent years, we have gained tremendous knowledge about HPVs and their interactions with host cells, tissues and the immune system; have validated and implemented strategies for safe and efficacious prophylactic vaccination against HPV infections; have developed increasingly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostic tools for HPV detection for use in cervical cancer screening; and have substantially increased global awareness of HPV and its many associated diseases in women, men, and children. While these achievements exemplify the success of biomedical research in generating important public health interventions, they also generate new and daunting challenges: costs of HPV prevention and medical care, the implementation of what is technically possible, socio-political resistance to prevention opportunities, and the very wide ranges of national economic capabilities and health care systems. Gains and challenges faced in the quest for comprehensive control of HPV infection and HPV-related cancers and other disease are summarized in this review. The information presented may be viewed in terms of a reframed paradigm of prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases that will include strategic combinations of at least four major components: 1) routine introduction of HPV vaccines to women in all countries, 2) extension and simplification of existing screening programs using HPV-based technology, 3) extension of adapted screening programs to developing populations, and 4) consideration of the broader spectrum of cancers and other diseases preventable by HPV vaccination in women, as well as in men. Despite the huge advances already achieved, there must be ongoing efforts including international advocacy to achieve widespread optimally universal implementation of HPV prevention strategies in both developed and developing countries. This article summarizes information from the chapters presented in a special ICO Monograph 'Comprehensive Control of HPV Infections and Related Diseases' Vaccine Volume 30, Supplement 5, 2012. Additional details on each subtopic and full information regarding the supporting literature references may be found in the original chapters. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Calling for a Shared Understanding of Sampling Terminology in Qualitative Research

In this article we present the critical analysis of a recent methods overview, authored by McCrae and Purssell, as a means to highlight and address several important ambiguities and misunderstandings associated with terminology commonly used to describe sampling in qualitative research. We share several definitive understandings of sampling-related issues, which have been informed by a rigorous analysis of the methods literature from another earlier methods overview focused more broadly on sampling in qualitative research. Specifically, we address ambiguities and inconsistencies related to what can be sampled in qualitative research (the sampling unit), the concept of theoretical sampling, the term purposeful sampling, the appropriateness of initial sampling in grounded theory, and the need to distinguish between the functions of reporting one’s sampling methods and describing the final participant sample. Finally, we argue that a continued lack of clarity in the language we use to describe what we do erodes the real and perceived quality of qualitative research. We point to the important role of methods overviews both for focusing attention on underdeveloped research methods topics and as a source of solutions to methodological problems

The Role of Faith, Religion, and Spirituality During Pregnancy: An Empirical and Theoretical Review

Objective: The goal of this empirical and theoretical review was to examine how pregnant women used faith, religion, and spirituality as stress-related coping mechanisms throughout their pregnancies. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify relevant studies, and a total of 10 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review based on the inclusion criteria. Results: Three major themes emerged from the review. Faith, religion, and spirituality were 1) a more common form of coping than optimism, 2) a useful stress-reducing resource among those who value it, and 3) viewed as being as impactful as preparation throughout pregnancy. Two primary theories were invoked across this research: coping theory and hope theory. Conclusions: This review provides a look at the state-of-the-science on how faith, religion, and spirituality are used as a coping mechanism during pregnancy and identifies meaningful gaps in the literature with regard to theory and research

Comprehensive Control of Human Papillomavirus Infections and Related Diseases

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as one of the major causes of infection-related cancer worldwide, as well as the causal factor in other diseases. Strong evidence for a causal etiology with HPV has been stated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer for cancers of the cervix uteri, penis, vulva, vagina, anus and oropharynx (including base of the tongue and tonsils). Of the estimated 12.7 million new cancers occurring in 2008 worldwide, 4.8% were attributable to HPV infection, with substantially higher incidence and mortality rates seen in developing versus developed countries. In recent years, we have gained tremendous knowledge about HPVs and their interactions with host cells, tissues and the immune system; have validated and implemented strategies for safe and efficacious prophylactic vaccination against HPV infections; have developed increasingly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostic tools for HPV detection for use in cervical cancer screening; and have substantially increased global awareness of HPV and its many associated diseases in women, men, and children. While these achievements exemplify the success of biomedical research in generating important public health interventions, they also generate new and daunting challenges: costs of HPV prevention and medical care, the implementation of what is technically possible, socio-political resistance to prevention opportunities, and the very wide ranges of national economic capabilities and health care systems. Gains and challenges faced in the quest for comprehensive control of HPV infection and HPV-related cancers and other disease are summarized in this review. The information presented may be viewed in terms of a reframed paradigm of prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases that will include strategic combinations of at least four major components: 1) routine introduction of HPV vaccines to women in all countries, 2) extension and simplification of existing screening programs using HPV-based technology, 3) extension of adapted screening programs to developing populations, and 4) consideration of the broader spectrum of cancers and other diseases preventable by HPV vaccination in women, as well as in men. Despite the huge advances already achieved, there must be ongoing efforts including international advocacy to achieve widespread optimally universal implementation of HPV prevention strategies in both developed and developing countries. This article summarizes information from the chapters presented in a special ICO Monograph 'Comprehensive Control of HPV Infections and Related Diseases' Vaccine Volume 30, Supplement 5, 2012. Additional details on each subtopic and full information regarding the supporting literature references may be found in the original chapters. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved