Physiological mechanisms of urine formation in Locusta migratoria migratorioides (R. & F.) and Zonocerus variegatus (L.)

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Girl-focused Life Skills Interventions at a Distance

This rapid review explores the evidence and lessons learned about engaging girls in life skills interventions at a distance (i.e. through mobile, online, radio or other) both in emergency and nonemergency settings. The purpose of the review is to assist programmes in identifying relevant and effective ways to continue and build girls’ life skills remotely during the widespread school closures and quarantine of the COVID-19 crisis (Albrectsen and Giannini, 2020). The main interest of the review is emergency contexts, however, the limited evidence as well as the potential for learning from programmes from non-emergency settings, led to the inclusion of non-emergency settings in the review. As evidence is scarce in this area, the report is based on a rapid literature review of academic studies, grey literature and emerging evidence, to ensure relevant insights are captured. The lack of rigorous studies on the impact of remote life skills interventions in general and specifically those focused on adolescent girls demonstrates a clear evidence gap. The review did identify relevant evidence when reviewing literature on several other topics, mainly shifting gender norms using media and communications and remote Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) approaches (most of which focus on HIV). The literature reviewed explored many modes of remote programme delivery, including – radio, magazines, TV, social media, mobile phones, interactive apps and hotlines. Some of the interventions reviewed were ones that require significant planning and preparation, such as TV and radio soap operas (Sugg, 2014; World Bank, 2017). To increase the applicability to the COVID-19 response, the review put greater emphasis on interventions that could be developed and implemented quickly

The Links Between Girls’ Life Skills Intervention in Emergencies and their Return to Education Post-crisis and Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancies and Early Marriage

This rapid review focuses on identifying evidence and lessons learned on the links between life skills interventions in emergency settings and the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and early marriage and return to education post crisis amongst adolescent girls. It seeks to enable learning from past emergencies to inform the design of effective support to adolescent girls throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Due to the focus on adolescent girls and emergency settings, an area with limited rigorous evaluations (Nobel et al., 2019), this report is based on a rapid literature review of academic studies, grey literature and emerging evidence, to enable the capturing of any significant learnings from relevant programmes. Evidence and lessons learned from specific programmes identified in the review suggest that life skills interventions for adolescent girls in emergencies impact on areas that have the potential to lead to reduction in unwanted pregnancies and early marriage and support return to education, and limited evidence that they can have direct impact on these outcomes. Ten relevant interventions with impact or lessons learned where identified. Most of these interventions were implemented with adolescent girls from displaced communities and in refugee camps in Sub Saharan Africa. A small number of programmes reported a direct link between the interventions and the outcomes in the research question. Three mentioned impact on girls continuing and returning to education (Plan International, 2019; UNDF, 2016), three mention impact on reducing early marriage (IRC, 2018b; UNDF, 2016), and one mentions direct impact on reducing unwanted pregnancy (Bandiera et al, 2019)

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire: Mixed Affective Reactions to Social Proximity in Borderline and Avoidant Personality Disorders in Daily Life

Social proximity typically helps individuals meet their belongingness needs, but several forms of psychopathology, including borderline and avoidant personality disorders (BPD and APD, respectively) are characterized by social difficulties. This experience-sampling study is one of the first to directly investigate the affective reactions of individuals with BPD and APD (compared with healthy controls [HC]) to social proximity in daily life. We examined both person-level and day-level reactions. At the person level, the rate of social proximity across the diary period was associated with diminished feelings of rejection, isolation, shame, and dissociation in the HC group. In contrast, it was not associated with any affective reaction in the BPD group, and was associated with decreased rejection and isolation on the one hand, but also with increased anxiety in the APD group. At the day level, we used multilevel regression to examine affective reactions when in social proximity. The HC group showed a consistent benefit when in social proximity. In contrast, both PD groups exhibited mixed affective reactions to social proximity; specifically, benefits (increased positive affect, decreased rejection, isolation, and dissociation) were interspersed with costs (increased shame for both PD groups; increased anger for BPD; increased anxiety for APD). The mixed reactions found in both PDs may contribute to the disturbed relationships of individuals with these disorders

Explicit and Inferred Motives for Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Acts and Urges in Borderline and Avoidant Personality Disorders

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a perplexing phenomenon that may have differing motives. The present study used experience sampling methods (ESM) which inquired explicitly about the motives for NSSI, but also enabled a temporal examination of the antecedents/consequences of NSSI; these allow us to infer other motives which were not explicitly endorsed. Adults (n = 152, aged 18–65) with borderline personality disorder (BPD), avoidant personality disorder (APD), or no psychopathology participated in a 3-week computerized diary study. We examined 5 classes of explicit motives for engaging in NSSI, finding support primarily for internally directed rather than interpersonally directed ones. We then used multilevel regression to examine changes in affect, cognition, and behavior surrounding moments of NSSI acts/urges compared with control moments (i.e., without NSSI). We examined changes in 5 scales of inferred motives, designed to correspond to the 5 classes of explicit motives. The results highlight differing motives for NSSI among individuals with BPD and APD, with some similarities (mostly in the explicit motives) and some differences (mostly in the inferred motives) between the disorders. Despite their infrequent explicit endorsement, fluctuations in interpersonally oriented scales were found surrounding NSSI acts/urges. This highlights the need to continue attending to interpersonal aspects of NSSI in research and in clinical practice. Additionally, NSSI urges, like acts, were followed by decline in affective/interpersonal distress (although in a delayed manner). Thus, interventions that build distress tolerance and enhance awareness for affective changes, and for antecedent/consequence patterns in NSSI, could help individuals resist the urge to self-injure