Juror decision making in acquaintance and marital rape: The influence of clothing, alcohol and pre-existing stereotypical attitudes

Stereotypical biases about women’s roles in intimate relationships including their marital status and lifestyle choices such as clothing and alcohol use influence juror attributions of rape case defendant guilt, potentially reducing access to justice for victims. Across two mock-juror decision making experiments, participants read identical fictitious sexual assault vignettes varying in intoxicated defendant-complainant relationship (married vs. acquaintance), accompanied by photographs of complainant clothing at the crime (body revealing vs. plain) and in court (smart vs. casual). Experiment 2 additionally described the defendant’s alcohol consumption as either under or over the drink drive limit. Most participants delivered guilty verdicts (Experiment 1: 86.7%; Experiment 2: 75.5%), recommending mean prison sentences of 5.04 years in Experiment 1 (n = 218 students) and 4.33 years in Experiment 2 (n = 1,086 members of public). In Experiment 1, guilty verdict rates and sentences were significantly higher when the married - but not the acquaintance - complainant dressed smartly rather than casually in court. In Experiment 2, significantly more guilty verdicts were delivered by females (80.3%) than males (66.9%), while sentence lengths were longer in acquaintance (M = 4.52 years) than married conditions (M = 4.10). Significant interactions between defendant alcohol use and clothing choice of the married - but not the acquaintance complainant - at the crime also influenced sentencing decisions. Higher scores on additionally administered scales measuring rape myth acceptance and sexist attitudes, but not alcohol expectancies, predicted lenient sentencing decisions in both experiments. These findings highlight how ‘rape myths’ concerning marriages drive juror decisions. Prosecuting lawyers should use these results to better challenge these attitudes in court. Internationally, rape is often unreported to the police, and married victims may be more willing to come forward if they believe unbiased access to justice is likely

Assessing physical symptoms during the perinatal period: Reliability and validity of the Primary Health Questionnaire Somatic Symptom Subscale (PHQ-15)

Introduction: This study aimed to establish the reliability and validity of the Primary Health Questionnaire Somatic Symptom Severity Subscale (PHQ-15) for postpartum women. Methods: Women (N = 495) completed the PHQ-15 approximately six weeks postpartum during the baseline phase of a randomised controlled trial evaluating a writing intervention for postnatal health in England. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency statistics and convergent validity by comparing differences in self-reported physical health, health-related quality of life (QoL), and primary care usage by PHQ-15 symptom severity category. Results: Cronbach’s α for the PHQ-15 was 0.73 and item-total statistics met recommended guidelines. Validity analyses showed 6% of women reported severe symptoms, 17% medium, 50% low, and 27% minimal symptoms. Women with severe symptoms reported poorer overall physical health, poorer physical health-related QoL, and greater use of primary care. Women with severe symptoms also rated their baby’s health as worse and used primary care more for their baby. Discussion: This study suggests the PHQ-15 has the potential to be a useful and valid measure of physical symptoms in postpartum women in high-income countries

Complexity and Community Context: Learning from the Evaluation Design of a National Community Empowerment Programme

Community empowerment interventions, which aim to build greater individual and community control over health, are shaped by the community systems in which they are implemented. Drawing on complex systems thinking in public health research, this paper discusses the evaluation approach used for a UK community empowerment programme focused on disadvantaged neighbourhoods. It explores design choices and the tension between the overall enquiry questions, which were based on a programme theory of change, and the varied dynamic socio-cultural contexts in intervention communities. The paper concludes that the complexity of community systems needs to be accounted for through in-depth case studies that incorporate community perspectives

Comparison of P53 mutation status, primary cytoreductive surgical outcomes, and overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer

Optimal surgical cytoreduction continues to be an important prognostic variable in patients with ovarian cancer independent of p53 mutational status. Among patients with suboptimal cytoreduction a p53 mutation may offer a survival advantage

How does virtual simulation impact on nursing students’ knowledge and self-efficacy for recognising and responding to deteriorating patients? A mixed methods study.

Background: Preparing undergraduate nursing students effectively for safe clinical practice continues to present significant challenges due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, global nursing shortages, greater competition for quality clinical placements, and no guarantee that nursing students will have exposure to a deteriorating patient during their clinical placements. This is a concern because early warning signs of clinical deterioration are often not detected by nurses in a timely manner, and recognition and response to deteriorating patients is recognised globally as a major safety challenge (Haddeland et al., 2018). Aim: To explore the impact of using interactive virtual simulation case studies with facilitated debriefing (Eppich and Cheng, 2015) on nursing students’ knowledge and self-efficacy for recognising and responding to early signs of clinical deterioration in patients. Design & Methods: Mixed methods study with quasi-experimental pre/post design and focus groups. A convenience sample (n=88) final year undergraduate nursing students with half the sample at each sites randomly allocated to a treatment or control group. The treatment group received a virtual simulation intervention, debriefing, and participated in a focus group. Results: The treatment group had statistically significant higher levels of clinical self-efficacy from pre to post survey scores (65.34 and 80.12) compared to the control group (62.59 and 70.73) and significantly increased levels of knowledge in recognizing and responding to the deteriorating patient scores from pre to post survey (11.30 to 13.1) in comparison to the control group (10.33 and 9.92). Conclusions: study findings demonstrated the positive impact of a the virtual simulation intervention on knowledge and confidence of undergraduate nursing students from geographically diverse areas

Seeking help for perinatal psychological distress: a meta-synthesis of women's experiences

Background Women may not seek help for perinatal psychological distress, despite regular contact with primary care services. Barriers include ignorance of symptoms, inability to disclose distress, others’ attitudes, and cultural expectations. Much of the evidence has been obtained from North American populations and may not, therefore, extrapolate to the UK. Aim To understand the factors affecting women’s decision to seek help for perinatal distress. Design and setting Meta-synthesis of the available published qualitative evidence on UK women’s experiences of seeking help for perinatal distress. Method Systematic searches were conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Databases searched were PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, CINAHL, and Academic Search Complete. Searches of grey literature and references were also conducted. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported qualitative data on UK women’s experiences of perinatal distress and contact with healthcare professionals. The synthesis was conducted using meta-ethnography. Results In all, 24 studies were eligible for inclusion. Metasynthesis identified three main themes: identifying a problem, the influence of healthcare professionals, and stigma. These themes build on current understanding of help seeking by identifying the need for women to be able to frame their experience, for healthcare professionals to educate women about their roles, the need for continuity of care, and the way that being seen as a ‘bad mother’ causes women to self-silence. Conclusion Perinatal care provision needs to allow for continuity of care and for staff training that facilitates awareness of factors that influence women’s help seeking. Further research is required, particularly in relation to effective means of identifying perinatal psychological distress