Assessing the quality of support and discovering sources of resilience during COVID-19 measures in people with intellectual disabilities by professional carers

BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 measures face-to-face contact is limited and professional carers have to find other ways to support people with intellectual disabilities. COVID-19 measures can increase stress in people with intellectual disabilities, although some people may adapt to or grow from these uncertain situations. Resilience is the process of effectively negotiating, adapting to, or managing significant sources of stress and trauma. The current study aims to provide professional carers with new insights into how they can support people with intellectual disabilities. METHOD: An online survey was shared through the social media and organizational newsletters of MEE ZHN (a non-governmental organization for people with disabilities). The resilience framework by Ungar (2019) was adapted to fit to people with intellectual disabilities during COVID-19 measures. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS statistics version 26. RESULTS: Results show that professional carers applied diverse and distal methods to maintain contact with people with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 measures. Professional carers reported a significant decrease in the quality of contact with clients with intellectual disabilities, but overall high levels of resilience in the same clients. IMPLICATIONS: Online methods of communication are possibly insufficient for professionals to cover all needs of people with intellectual disabilities. During this pandemic professionals should be aware of stress but also of resilience in people with intellectual disabilities

Resilience in the face of adversity in adults with an intellectual disability:A literature review

Background: Persons with an intellectual disability are at a higher risk of experiencing adversities. The concept of resilience offers promising insights into facilitating personal growth after adversity. The current study aims at providing an overview of the current research on resilience and the way this can contribute to quality of life in people with intellectual disability.  Method: A literature review was conducted in the databases PsycINFO and Web of Science. To evaluate the quality of the studies, the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used.  Results: The themes, autonomy, self-acceptance and physical health, were identified as internal sources of resilience. External sources of resilience can be found within the social network and daily activities.  Conclusion: The current overview shows promising results to address resilience in adults with intellectual disability. More research is needed to identify the full range of resiliency factors

When breaks get hot:inflammatory signaling in BRCA1/2-mutant cancers

Genomic instability and inflammation are intricately connected hallmark features of cancer. DNA repair defects due to BRCA1/2 mutation instigate immune signaling through the cGAS/STING pathway. The subsequent inflammatory signaling provides both tumor-suppressive as well as tumor-promoting traits. To prevent clearance by the immune system, genomically instable cancer cells need to adapt to escape immune surveillance. Currently, it is unclear how genomically unstable cancers, including BRCA1/2-mutant tumors, are rewired to escape immune clearance. Here, we summarize the mechanisms by which genomic instability triggers inflammatory signaling and describe adaptive mechanisms by which cancer cells can 'fly under the radar' of the immune system. Additionally, we discuss how therapeutic activation of the immune system may improve treatment of genomically instable cancers

A Melding of the Minds: When Primatology Meets Personality and Social Psychology

Social/personality psychology and behavioral primatology both enjoy long histories of research aimed at uncovering the proximate and ultimate determinants of primate--human and nonhuman--social behavior. Although they share research themes, methodologies and theories, and their studied species are closely related, there is currently very little interaction between the fields. This separation means that researchers in these disciplines miss out on opportunities to advance understanding by combining insights from both fields. Social/personality psychologists additionally miss the opportunity for a phylogenetic analysis. The time has come to integrate perspectives on primate social psychology. Here we provide a historical background and document the main similarities and differences in approaches. Next we present some examples of research programs that may benefit from an integrated primate perspective. Finally, we propose a framework for developing a social psychology inclusive of all primates. Such a melding of minds promises to greatly benefit those who undertake the challenge

The effect of a sport-based intervention to prevent juvenile delinquency in at-risk adolescents

Despite the wide implementation of sport-based crime prevention programs, there is a lack of empirical knowledge on the effectiveness of these interventions. This study evaluated a Dutch sport-based program in N = 368 youth at risk for juvenile delinquency. Intervention effects were tested in a quasi-experimental study, comparing the intervention group with a comparison group using multiple sources of information. The study was conducted under conditions that resemble real-life implementation, thereby enhancing the relevance of this contribution to practitioners. The primary outcome was juvenile delinquency, measured by official police data. The secondary outcomes were risk and protective factors for delinquency, assessed with self- and teacher reports. A significant effect was found on one delinquency measure. The intervention group consisted of fewer youth with police registrations as a suspect than the comparison group (d = −0.34). We did not find an intervention effect on the number of registrations as a suspect in each group. In addition, no significant intervention effects were found on the secondary outcomes. Implications for theory and practice concerning the use of sport-based crime prevention programs are discussed