To minimize animal suffering, broaden the definition of animal cruelty

Mandatory veterinary reporting of suspected abuse might discourage caregivers from seeking treatment for their injured animals. Animal abusers are more likely to be brought to justice by raising community awareness about the link between animal cruelty and human violence and its implications for the wellbeing of both humans and animals. Commonly accepted definitions of animal cruelty focus only on cruelty that is socially unacceptable, excluding an enormous amount of unnecessary animal suffering caused by humans. Only by broadening the definition of animal cruelty can we bring about the cultural change necessary to minimize this animal suffering

To minimize animal suffering, broaden the definition of animal cruelty

Mandatory veterinary reporting of suspected abuse might discourage caregivers from seeking treatment for their injured animals. Animal abusers are more likely to be brought to justice by raising community awareness about the link between animal cruelty and human violence and its implications for the wellbeing of both humans and animals. Commonly accepted definitions of animal cruelty focus only on cruelty that is socially unacceptable, excluding an enormous amount of unnecessary animal suffering caused by humans. Only by broadening the definition of animal cruelty can we bring about the cultural change necessary to minimize this animal suffering

Effects of a Discourse Intervention on End-Of-Life Knowledge and Attitudes of BSN Nursing Students

Introduction. A number of challenges exist to providing effective, formalized end of life (EOL) education for undergraduate nursing students. Despite advanced resources provided by the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC), many nursing program curricula are overloaded with content and have little opportunity to incorporate other content and information. In addition, the topic of EOL care may elicit significant emotional responses from nursing students with numerous studies indicating nursing students experience fear and anxiety when caring for patients at EOL. Recent research demonstrates the need to approach emotionally laden topics such as EOL care from a pedagogical perspective that acknowledges and addresses student attitudes and the potential effects they may have on learning. Recognizing that beliefs and emotional perspectives could potentially influence learning, Mezirow (1991) developed a teaching strategy known as a discourse intervention based on his Transformational Learning Theory (TLT) that has been effective across multiple disciplines such as sociology, education, and nursing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of a discourse intervention to the ELNEC Undergraduate (UG) Nursing Modules effectively improved junior level pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students’ knowledge and attitudes toward EOL care. In addition, the study examined possible moderating effects of demographics, past EOL education, and EOL experience on the participants’ knowledge and attitude. Methods. A quasi experimental two-group comparison (control vs intervention), pretest/posttest design was used to determine the effectiveness of a theory-based discourse intervention added to the ELNEC UG nursing modules in a sample of BSN students located in the southern region of the U.S. Applying Mezirow’s TLT, the two-hour discourse intervention included a self-reflective journal, an unfolding case study focused on loss, and discussion with question and answer session that was implemented at the completion of the ELNEC UG nursing modules for the intervention group. Study participants (N = 135) completed surveys focused on demographics, EOL care knowledge (Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses-PCQN) and EOL care attitudes (Frommelt’s Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying-FATCOD) before and after the intervention. Ttests, path analysis and Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis calculated the degree to which each independent variable explained the variance in self-reported knowledge and attitudes of junior level BSN nursing students. Results. The intervention group had a statistically significant greater improvement on EOL care knowledge scores (M=3.86, SD=2.88 vs. M=2.37, SD=2.54, p = .002) and EOL care attitude (M= 6.35, SD= 8.71 vs. M= 2.62, SD= 9.56, p = .020) compared to the control group. No moderating effect was found for the relationship between group placement and knowledge and attitude. Knowledge (PCQN scores) and attitude (FATCOD scores) were moderately correlated (r = .311, p \u3c .001). Hierarchical linear regression for knowledge revealed step one (demographics) explained 4% of the variance but was not significant; step two (group control vs. intervention) explained 11.2% [F (1, 126) = 9.793, p = .002]; step three (FATCOD difference scores treated as an independent variable) explained 17.5% [F(1, 125) = 9.469, p = .003] of the variance; step four (cohort) explained 29.5%. The final regression model with demographics, group, FATCOD difference scores and cohort accounted for 29.5% of the variance in self-reported PCQN scores and was significant [F (1, 124) = 21.041, p \u3c .001]. Hierarchical linear regression for attitude revealed step one (demographics) explained 2.9% of the variance but was not significant; step two (group control vs. intervention) explained 8% [F(1, 126) = 7.008, p = .009]; step three (PCQN difference scores treated as an independent variable) explained 14.5% [F(1, 125) = 9.469, p = .003] of the variance; step four (cohort) explained 17.8% . The final regression model with demographics, group, PCQN difference scores and cohort accounted for 17.8% of the variance in self-reported FATCOD scores and was significant [F(1, 124) = 11.321, p \u3c .028]. Discussion This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a discourse intervention when added to the ELNEC UG modules, affirming the application of reflective learning strategies when addressing emotionally laden content such as EOL. In addition, the study supports the value of theory-based educational interventions to enhance effective pedagogy. This study may have also given a glimpse into how a global pandemic may affect end-of-life knowledge and attitudes during a time where death is commonplace

Emotional functioning in children and adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms

Difficulties with emotion and its regulation are of central importance to the etiology and course of depression. The current study investigated these constructs in relation to childhood and adolescence by comparing the emotional functioning of 170 9- to 15-year-olds reporting high levels of depressive symptoms (HD) to a matched sample of 170 children and adolescents reporting low levels of depressive symptoms (LD). Compared to LD, HD participants reported significantly greater shame proneness, poorer functioning on emotion regulation competencies (emotional control, self-awareness and situational responsiveness), less healthy emotion regulation strategy use (less reappraisal and greater suppression), and lower levels of guilt proneness. Empathic concern did not differ between the two groups. The findings enhance current knowledge by providing a more comprehensive profile of the emotional difficulties experienced by children and adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Group psychotherapy for female adult survivors of interpersonal psychological trauma: a preliminary study in Scotland

Background: There is limited evidence on manualised group interventions that facilitate thedevelopment of trauma recovery skills, affect regulation and meaning making for survivors ofinterpersonal trauma.Aim: The study aimed to provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of grouppsychotherapy (based on Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model, TREM) for psychologicaldistress in adult survivors of interpersonal trauma.Method: Participants were a consecutive series of female patients (n¼71) from the waiting listsof five National Health Service (NHS) Boards in Scotland. Participants completed a set of selfratedmeasures (PCL, CORE, SCL-90, DES and RSES) at baseline, mid-intervention, postinterventionand 3-month follow-up.Results: Effect sizes were small to medium across measures and assessment points at posttreatmentand follow-up. With regard to clinical significance, at post-treatment, a proportion of9.9% to 54.9% of participants achieved clinical significance across measures. At follow-up, aproportion of 9.9% to 62.0% of participants achieved clinical significance across measures.Conclusions: Group psychotherapy may be useful for a proportion of participants and especiallyso for symptoms of dissociation and self-esteem. Survivors of interpersonal trauma should beoffered a choice of individual or group treatment modalities to reduce drop-out rate andmaximise outcomes

Visuo-spatial cognition in Williams syndrome: Reviewing and accounting for the strengths and weaknesses in performance

Individuals with Williams syndrome typically show relatively poor visuo-spatial abilities in comparison to stronger verbal skills. However, individuals' level of performance is not consistent across all visuo-spatial tasks. The studies assessing visuo-spatial functioning in Williams syndrome are critically reviewed, in order to provide a clear pattern of the relative difficulty of these tasks. This prompts a possible explanation of the variability in performance seen which focuses on the processing demands of some of these tasks. Individuals with Williams syndrome show an atypical processing style on tests of construction, which does not affect tests of perception

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf: a prospective paradigm to test Rachman's indirect pathways in children

Rachman's theory [The conditioning theory of fear insition: a critical examination. Behav. Res. Ther. 15 (1977) 375–387] of fear acquisition suggests that fears and phobias can be acquired through three pathways: direct conditioning, vicarious learning and information/instruction. Although retrospective studies have provided some evidence for these pathways in the development of phobias during childhood [see King, Gullone, & Ollendick, Etiology of childhood phobias: current status of Rachman's three pathway's theory. Behav. Res. Ther. 36 (1998) 297–309 for a review], these studies have relied on long-term past memories of adult phobics or their parents. The current study was aimed towards developing a paradigm in which the plausibility of Rachman's indirect pathways could be investigated prospectively. In Experiment 1, children aged between 7 and 9 were presented with two types of information about novel stimuli (two monsters): video information and verbal information in the form of a story. Fear-related beliefs about the monsters changed significantly as a result of verbal information but not video information. Having established an operational paradigm, Experiment 2 looked at whether the source of verbal information had an effect on changes in fear-beliefs. Using the same paradigm, information about the monsters was provided by either a teacher, an adult stranger or a peer, or no information was given. Again, verbal information significantly changed fear-beliefs, but only when the information came from an adult. The role of information in the acquisition of fear and maintenance of avoidant behaviour is discussed with reference to modern conditioning theories of fear acquisition

A case-control study of emotion regulation and school refusal in children and adolescents

Abstract The current study aimed to investigate emotion regulation (ER) strategy use in a sample of 21 clinic-referred children and adolescents (10-14 years old) presenting with school refusal, all of whom were diagnosed with at least one anxiety disorder. Being the first known study to examine ER and school refusal, hypotheses were guided by previous research on anxiety. It was hypothesized that the school refusal sample would report less healthy ER strategy use compared to an age-and sex-matched nonclinical sample (n = 21). As expected, the school refusal sample reported less use of cognitive reappraisal and greater use of expressive suppression to regulate their emotions than did the nonclinical sample. Although preliminary, the findings provide important information regarding the emotional functioning of children and adolescents presenting with school refusal. Future directions for research and implications for improved prevention and intervention programs are discussed

Negotiating boundaries of care: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the relational conflicts surrounding home mechanical ventilation following traumatic spinal cord injury

Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore the phenomena of mechanical ventilation following traumatic spinal cord injury from three simultaneous perspectives; patients who require full-time mechanical ventilation (n=8), their informal family carers (n=8) and their formal carers (n=11). We focus upon the intra and inter- personal challenges of establishing boundaries within the triad. Design: Qualitative study. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). In order to encapsulate the inter-subjective, multi-dimensional and relational aspects of the experience, we focussed on recurrent themes which were independently reported across all three participant groups. Results: One major inter-connected recurrent theme was identified: 1) “Negotiating boundaries of care and finding a ‘fit’”. It centres around establishing a “line”, or a boundary, which was imperative for retaining a sense of independence (for patients), a sense of home and privacy (for informal carers) and difficulties balancing complex care provision with the needs of family members so as not to cross that “line” (for formal carers). Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for focussing on a “fit” within the triad, balancing boundaries of care in order to establish a productive, satisfactory psycho-social environment for all three participant groups to live and/or work within. Recommendations for both future care provision and future research are suggested