Emotional distress in African American women with HIV

This study identified factors associated with emotional distress in 109 African American women with HIV. The relationship of personal factors (demographic, social conflict, social support, and spirituality), health-related factors (perception of health, physical and mental health problems, and years diagnosed), and cognitive/coping responses (stigma, worry, and emotion focused coping) on depressive symptoms and mood state was examined. Younger age, more social conflict, less social support, lower perception of health, and more HIV worry were associated with higher depressive symptom scores. Variables most often affecting various mood states included personal factors (public housing, unemployment, and social conflict) and worry about having HIV worry.     

Laboratory Experiments: A Meaningful Contribution to Restorative Justice Research?

Advocates of restorative justice (RJ) argue that the process offers a more effective means of responding to crime than the formal criminal justice system, and many studies have evaluated RJ positively across a variety of outcome measures, particularly in comparison to court based procedures. However, the RJ literature contains few studies that directly test the factors affecting RJ participants’ behaviours and experiences, so little is known about the specific factors that influence how, and for whom, RJ works. In this paper, we argue that the expanded use of experimental laboratory methodologies will broaden and strengthen our understanding of the basic mechanisms by which RJ operates. We describe some ways in which experimental laboratory research may enhance understandings of apology in restorative settings as well as public support for RJ, and we emphasise the need and the potential to overcome barriers of artificiality in laboratory settings. This analysis of laboratory methodologies and the field of RJ research indicates that creative and well-designed experimental laboratory studies can advance knowledge in this area, allowing researchers to investigate how particular components of RJ contribute to the success or failure of RJ processes.     

Containing the secret of child sexual abuse

This study reports a grounded theory study of the process of how children tell of their experiences of child sexual abuse from the perspectives of young people and their parents. Individual interviews were conducted with 22 young people aged 8 to 18, and 14 parents. A theoretical model was developed that conceptualises the process of disclosure as one of containing the secret of child sexual abuse. Three key dynamics were identified: the active withholding of the secret on the part of the child, the experience of a 'pressure cooker effect' reflecting a conflict between the wish to tell and the wish to keep the secret, and the confiding itself which often occurs in the context of an intimacy being shared. Children's experiences of disclosure were multidetermined and suggest the need for multifaceted and multisystemic approaches to prevention and intervention. The need for the secret to be contained, individually and interpersonally in appropriate safeguarding and therapeutic contexts needs to be respected in helping children tell.     

Women’s Exposure to Psychological Abuse: Does That Experience Predict Mental Health Outcomes?

Women’s experience with psychological abuse was examined as a predictor of symptoms and clinical levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization, as well as suicidal ideation and life functioning. A national sample of 361 women reporting themselves to be in a problematic or conflictual relationship completed an online survey assessing psychological abuse, pre-existing risk factors, risk factors related to exposure of psychological abuse and mental health indicators. The results indicated that while psychological abuse does predict mental health outcomes, perceived negative changes in one’s traits, problematic relationship schemas, and response styles more strongly predict mental health outcomes than the reported abuse. Implications discussed include the importance of identifying women in psychologically abusive relationships who are at risk for mental health problems, prevention of development of mental health problems, and the need for mediation path analysis of the factors explored in this study.