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This mixed-methods, exploratory study investigates the gambling activities of street youth in Mumbai, India. Data from surveys and brief interviews of 70 youth aged 12–24, two focus groups, and ethnographic observations offer descriptive snapshots of the gambling behavior of participants. The article includes details about games played, popular venues, initiation patterns, time spent gambling, and interactions with the police. Street youth gamble for social benefits, such as group membership and fun; it is also a leisure activity enabling time to go by quickly. Individual benefits include intermittent rewards and a high after winning or being referred to as a gambler. The inability to save, the lack of recreation options, living in groups, and the environment of the streets structure and sustain gambling. This study discusses the group and social dimension of gambling among street youth, and how this dimension makes their participation different from adolescent gambling in general and General Addictions Theory. It contributes to the literature by emphasizing that for street youth the social/group aspects of gambling predominate the psychological. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice, highlighting the need to develop recreational, income-saving, and educational awareness programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the association between psychological distress and persons' perceptions of their physical well-being. Associations between psychological distress and ratings of health status within four diverse data sets are examined, controlling for physical health status as well as for sociodemographic variables. The results indicate that, despite variation in the characteristics of the populations under study, the mode of data collection employed, and the specific questions used to measure psychological distress, distress remains a statistically significant correlate of perceived health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In relation to treatment-related research in the United States, there is relatively little systematic effort focused on the combination of risk and prevention for anxiety pathology. This article broadly discusses risk factor research and prevention program development for anxiety psychopathology. The authors also specifically discuss papers in this special issue that are focused on these topics. Risk factor research should be used by clinical researchers to inform prevention programs, and reciprocally, prevention knowledge should be effectively utilized to drive new, clinically focused risk factor research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, a body of research has developed which purports to show that the well-established relationship between race and psychological distress is duc entirely to social class. In our paper we demonstrate that this view is incorrect: Most prior research has assumed that the effects of race and social class are additive; our analysis shows that they are actually interactive. The form of interaction is such that thc true effect of race is suppressed and tire true effect of social class is magnified in a model that fails to take the interaction into consideration. An analysis of eight different epidemiologic surveys documents this result and shows that race differences in psychological distress are particularly pronounced among people with low incomes. On the basis of this result we call for renewed interest in the effect of race on mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 22-item scale developed through the Midtown Manhattan Study is considered from methodological, substantive, and theoretical perspectives. This paper concludes that the instrument is, at best, a very incomplete measure of mental illness. A review of previous literature suggests a more reasonable interpretation is that it measures psychological stress and physical malaise, although even for these purposes it is a less than ideal measure. Use of the instrument examining the relationship between stressful life experiences and mental illness is further discouraged due to a conceptual confounding of the independent and dependent variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Psychiatry is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The vast number of worldwide refugees has caused a global refugee crisis, political turmoil, and heightened anxiety in resettlement countries, stimulating xenophobia and religious tensions. We provide an overview of the four articles in this Major Contribution as a foundation for describing contemporary issues, challenges, and present an effective culturally responsive model of intervention to work with present-day refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of research on race-related stressors that can affect the mental health of socially disadvantaged racial and ethnic populations. It begins by reviewing the research on self-reported discrimination and mental health. Although discrimination is the most studied aspect of racism, racism can also affect mental health through structural/institutional mechanisms and racism that is deeply embedded in the larger culture. Key priorities for research include more systematic attention to stress proliferation processes due to institutional racism, the assessment of stressful experiences linked to natural or manmade environmental crises, documenting and understanding the health effects of hostility against immigrants and people of color, cataloguing and quantifying protective resources, and enhancing our understanding of the complex association between physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transgender people experience disproportionately high mental and physical health risks. Minority stress theory identifies distal and proximal stressors that contribute to negative mental health outcomes for transgender people, and suggests that resilience factors can buffer the negative influence of these stressors. In this article, we aim to synthesize the psychological literature on resilience strategies among transgender people and position it within the minority stress framework and introduce an adapted model called the transgender resilience intervention model (TRIM). The TRIM suggests that social support, community belonging, family acceptance, participating in activism, having positive role models, and being a positive role model are group-level resilience factors. Self-worth, self-acceptance and/or pride, self-definition, hope, and transition are individual-level factors that promote resilience. Community, group, and individual interventions and their potential influence on resilience are discussed. The model calls for the development of additional interventions aimed at increasing resilience for transgender people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research typically compartmentalizes health and justice as separate areas of study. However, the current health literature on inequality suggests the two concepts are overlapping. For victims of partner violence, procedural justice (defined in this article as access to protective orders and enforcement of protective orders) potentially provides a step toward improved health and well-being by improving safety. There has been limited research examining these factors in rural compared with urban areas. This study examines the impact of procedural justice on health and well-being through interviews with rural and urban women 6 months prior to, and 6 months after, obtaining a protective order. Consistent with other literature, rural women who were victims of partner violence reported worse health, higher stress, and higher Stress-Related Consequences Scale scores compared with urban women. Women’s reported health consequences were related to the interaction of perceived ineffectiveness of the protective orders and their rural/urban environment. Thus, the perceived effectiveness of procedural justice may play an important role in alleviating victims’ safety, health, and well-being, all of which are components of contemporary views of justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Close relationships are a resource for mental and physical health that, like other social resources, is unequally distributed in the population. This article focuses on racial disparities in the loss of relationships across the life course. Racial disparities in life expectancy in the United States mean that black Americans experience the deaths of more friends and family members than do white Americans from childhood through later life. I argue that these losses are a unique type of stress and adversity that, through interconnected biopsychosocial pathways, contribute to disadvantage in health over the life course. I focus particularly on how the interconnected pathways associated with loss undermine opportunities for and increase risks to social ties throughout life, adding to disadvantage in health. I call on social scientists and policy makers to draw greater attention to this unique source of disadvantage for black children, adults, and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of acute and chronic illness in children frequently triggers episodes of stress and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in mothers. Mothers of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) consistently report high levels of stress and PTSS. The purpose of this integrative review was to review and synthesize the published empirical research. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to conduct this integrative literature review. A total of 19 studies were identified from a sample of 128. Stress and PTSS were prevalent in mothers of youth with T1D. While PTSS was most severe at disease onset, symptoms often persisted 1 to 5 years after diagnosis. The diagnosis of T1D in a child was traumatic for mothers. Stress and PTSS in mothers adversely affected children’s health. Management of stress symptoms in mothers may lead to improved behavioral and metabolic outcomes in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental and physical health of 146 Dutch males exposed to severe war stress during their young adulthood were examined in 1986-1987 when they were at ages 61 to 66 years. The veterans' data were compared with a randomly selected population-based sample of same-aged males. In 2005, 70% of the war stress veterans had died, and only 35% of the comparison group. The baseline quality of life was significantly poorer in the war stress veterans than in the comparison group. Baseline variables explained 42% of the increased risk of mortality among war stress veterans. Smoking was the largest single contributor to mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Psychiatry is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using National Population Health Survey data and the stress process model, this study investigates the relationship between food insufficiency and the risk of depression among Canadian adults. The study presents three principal findings. First, after controlling for conventional socioeconomic and socio-demographic variables, food insufficiency increases the risk of depression and actually predicts this risk better than measures of low income, main source of income, and education. Second, the negative effect of food insufficiency is not attributable to social resources disparities, even though these resources significantly reduce the size of the effect. Third, the effects of food insufficiency on depression are generally stronger for women than for men, but the results also indicate that single fathers from food insufficient households face more depression than other groups, including single mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined whether engagement in a performance domain could buffer or exacerbate the consequences of different stressors. Soldiers completed measures of engagement in work, work demands (days training, work hours, and subjective work overload), and symptoms at two time periods. Engagement in work interacted with days training and work hours at Time 1 to predict health symptoms at Time 2 (after controlling Time 1 out-comes). Soldiers highly engaged in their jobs were less likely to report negative consequences under high levels of training/work hours in comparison to soldiers disengaged from their jobs. However engagement in work interacted with work overload in the opposite manner, with high levels of engagement potentiating the relationship between overload and reports of health symptoms. Engagement in a domain appears to buffer individuals from stressors that do not undermine performance but may exacerbate the impact of stressors that compromise performing well in the domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the effect of exposure to emotional stress on humoral immune function after injection with ovalbumin in adult male Wistar rats. Determination of antibody; Changes in fluid intake and body weight of the rats; Induction of emotional stress for rats in the emotionally stressed group.

Historically, the terms ‘temperature’, ‘character’ and ‘personality’ have been used to refer to what we now mean by the term ‘personality’. Temperature refers to the raw material out of which personality evolves. Personality is a person's coherent manner of interacting with himself/herself and with the environment. The concept of temperament has been prominent with Eastern European psychologist and with development psychologist in North America. A number of developmental theories of temperament are discussed, and differences and similarities between temperament parameters and personality parameters are described. The genetics of personality are presented and evaluated. Mechanistic and dynamic interactions are distinguished, and the multidimensional interaction model of anxiety and relevant research are discussed. A preliminary interaction model of anxiety, stress, and coping is presented. Finally, the temperamental nature of personality is discussed, and for possible rapprochements between personality and temperature are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hemorheologic effects of emotional stress induced by a videofilm were investigated in 10 healthy volunteers. Blood samples were obtained from the antecubital vein before, during, and after the end of the videofilm. Blood pressure and heart rate were simultaneously measured. There was a statistically significant increase in blood and plasma viscosity during and immediately after the end of the videofilm, which correlated with an increase in plasma catecholamine concentrations. This hemorheologic behavior can be explained as a result of an endogenous hemoconcentration that takes place if the Starling equilibrium of intravascular vs extravascular fluid is changed. These observations could lead to new aspects of the pathophysiology of acute myocardial infarction initiated by severe emotional stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the growing body of research on situational determinants of coping. Based on a general population sample of 1556 married men and women, it goes beyond previous efforts in two ways. First, it presents the first large-scale analysis of situational determinants of coping effectiveness in response to a wide variety' of stressful life events and chronic difficulties. This analysis documents that previous aggregate analyses overlooked a number of specifications which, when observed, provide insights into the mechanisms of coping effectiveness. Second, it assesses the importance of two empirically generated multivariate coping profiles, passivity and versatility. The study's findings suggest that these profiles are associated significantly with adjustment to stress, that these associations differ across situations, and that they help to interpret the effects of separate coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A probability sample of 1,429 adults aged 55 and older was interviewed in their homes three times at six-month intervals. Measures of symptoms, social support, and education were obtained before measures of life-event stress. A LISREL analysis of three waves and two intervals of data yielded a goodness of fit of .989 between the data and the model. For both intervals, increases in stress led to increases in symptoms, which supported the Dohrenwend hypothesis of a normative stress reaction. This reaction typically did not persist beyond six months unless there was high stress over both intervals. Contrary to Dohrenwend's resource mediation hypothesis, social support and education did not influence either the reaction to or the recovery from stress. Symptoms were very stable over the one-year period. Overall, the results depict older adults as quite consistent and resilient. Because life events were correlated over time and were predicted by person characteristics, they should not be considered as independent of person factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how patterns of coping and defense, as well as their main effects, influence well-being. Using a cross-sectional survey design, questionnaire data were collected and analyzed from 207 university students facing the stress of annual examinations in India. Coping was generally and positively correlated with positive affects (such as satisfaction) whereas defense was primarily and positively correlated with somatic complaints and negative affects. Regarding patterns of coping, mobilization to take action was associated with negative affect when the coping mechanism of problem diagnosis was relatively low. When diagnosis was relatively high, mobilization was associated with either no change in affect or an improvement in it. Coping and defense, but not their combinations, buffered certain effects of poor fit on indicators of ill-being. The similarities and differences between these findings and those of other investigators suggest that coping may buffer the effects of stressors on ill-being only when stressors are subjectively controllable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two models of the relationship between life change and illness behavior are tested in a prospective study of surgical patients in six disease-operation categories. The sensitization model hypothesizes that higher levels of life change experienced prior to surgery will be related positively to the number of problems perceived by patients with their postoperative recovery. The physiological reaction model predicts that life change will be positively related to the patients' actual morbidity postoperatively. Inconsistent results were found for each model. Small effects in the direction predicted by the sensitization model were found with gastric surgery, abdominal hysterectomy and vaginal hysterectomy categories. The physiological reaction model received weak support from two categories: abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy. The remaining four categories failed to show support for the physiological reaction model. Overall, the findings are interpreted as failing to show clear support for either model. Various explanations for these negative results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]