Search

'What is the good life?' Few empirical studies explore how American college students answer this important question. In this grounded theory study, we analysed the responses of 276 American college students in two phases. In the first phase, we examined responses from 109 students at 10 different universities. In the second phase, we added interviews with an additional 167 students at one of the universities. Based on our coding, we found students' visions of the good life were comprised of 24 unique ingredients; the most common being having a stable or passion-inspired career, being married, having children, continuing advanced learning, and being financially stable. We also discovered that eight distinct clusters of ingredients accounted for three-fourths of student responses. The clusters included American dreamers, happy strivers, comfort, and stability seekers, ECL (enjoy work, have comfort, limited family) students, family cultivators, singular career strivers, moral strivers, and God-followers.

For over 50 years, a group of Christians has cultivated a movement to revitalize Christian education at secular universities. These leaders formed centers for Christian thought (CCT) to reengage the Christian faith with the "intellectual" life (and vice-versa) and work with students, staff, and faculty within American universities. At present, there are at least 41 CCT in the USA, but little empirical work has been done to explore this type of Christian education. In this paper, we used a collective case study of five established CCT to answer the following research question: What are the distinctive features of Christian study centers and institutes for Catholic thought, and what is the nature of Christian education they offer? Each center we studied exhibited characteristics unique to its institutional context and yet shared some key educational elements with other centers. In sum, CCT used hospitality and intellectual fellowship to engage the riches of the Christian intellectual tradition to satiate the human appetite to live an integrated life. The center staff believed that living the integrated life would strengthen the global church and thereby benefit the university and society. Although CCT are distinct from Christian colleges and universities, opportunities exist for mutual learning between them that could help perpetuate the Christian intellectual tradition. For example, CCT could benefit from the faith integration conversations happening on Christian campuses, who could, in turn, learn from the holistic approaches of CCT and benefit from hiring faculty who were involved with a center as graduate students.

BackgroundOutdoor air pollution, including ozone (O3) pollution, and childhood family environments may interact and impact asthma exacerbations in children. Previous epidemiology studies have primarily focused on stress in the home, rather than support, and whether psychosocial factors modify the association between pollution and health outcomes, rather than whether pollution exposure modifies associations between psychosocial factors and health outcomes.MethodsData from the cross-sectional 2003 representative, population-based California Health Interview Survey were linked with air quality monitoring data on O3 pollution from the California Air Resources Board. Adolescents (N = 209) ages 12-17 who reported an asthma diagnosis and lived within 5 mi of the nearest air monitoring station had linked O3 data for a 12-month period preceding the survey interview date. Adolescents reported perceived available support from an adult at home and frequency of asthma symptoms.ResultsIn unadjusted models, for adolescents living in high O3 pollution regions, greater perceived support was related to lower asthma symptom frequency. Follow-up analyses suggested that the most plausible interpretation of the interaction was that O3 exposure modified the association between perceived support and symptom frequency. O3 × perceived support interactions were not statistically significant after adjusting for covariates.ConclusionsThese data provide preliminary evidence that the association between the lack of support in the home environment and worse asthma symptoms may be stronger in areas with higher O3 exposure. Future work may benefit from incorporating personal pollution exposure assessments, comprehensive family environment assessments, and longitudinal follow-up of asthma exacerbations over time.

Previous research suggests that affectionate touch such as hugs might downregulate stress systems such as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. However, the current literature lacks in generalizability beyond the laboratory setting and outside the context of romantic relationships. The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a measure of the HPA axis and is responsive to daily fluctuations in stress and social information. However, associations between affectionate touch and the CAR have never been assessed. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure daily hugging behaviors in 104 first-year college students and salivary cortisol to assess the CAR. Participants who reported more daily hugs in their social interactions had significantly smaller CARs the next morning compared to days they reported fewer hugs. This study contributes to the literature on social interactions and stress responsive systems and emphasizes the importance of assessing affectionate touch behaviors such as hugs that can be exchanged outside the context of romantic relationships.

While interviewing seniors at our university, we came across a curious and disturbing trend. Students of color were less active in any local church. This finding pushed us to ask: does this gap exist throughout Christian college campuses? We answered this question using survey data from over 800 seniors at Baylor University and a national sample of over 6000 students from 34 Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) institutions. As suspected, many students of color on these campuses attend church less often than their white classmates, despite similarities in beliefs. We suggest some possible reasons for this gap.

PurposeCombination programmed cell death protein 1/cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte-4-blockade and dual BRAF/MEK inhibition have each shown significant clinical benefit in patients with BRAFV600-mutant metastatic melanoma, leading to broad regulatory approval. Little prospective data exist to guide the choice of either initial therapy or treatment sequence in this population. This study was conducted to determine which initial treatment or treatment sequence produced the best efficacy.Patients and methodsIn a phase III trial, patients with treatment-naive BRAFV600-mutant metastatic melanoma were randomly assigned to receive either combination nivolumab/ipilimumab (arm A) or dabrafenib/trametinib (arm B) in step 1, and at disease progression were enrolled in step 2 to receive the alternate therapy, dabrafenib/trametinib (arm C) or nivolumab/ipilimumab (arm D). The primary end point was 2-year overall survival (OS). Secondary end points were 3-year OS, objective response rate, response duration, progression-free survival, crossover feasibility, and safety.ResultsA total of 265 patients were enrolled, with 73 going onto step 2 (27 in arm C and 46 in arm D). The study was stopped early by the independent Data Safety Monitoring Committee because of a clinically significant end point being achieved. The 2-year OS for those starting on arm A was 71.8% (95% CI, 62.5 to 79.1) and arm B 51.5% (95% CI, 41.7 to 60.4; log-rank P = .010). Step 1 progression-free survival favored arm A (P = .054). Objective response rates were arm A: 46.0%; arm B: 43.0%; arm C: 47.8%; and arm D: 29.6%. Median duration of response was not reached for arm A and 12.7 months for arm B (P < .001). Crossover occurred in 52% of patients with documented disease progression. Grade ≥ 3 toxicities occurred with similar frequency between arms, and regimen toxicity profiles were as anticipated.ConclusionCombination nivolumab/ipilimumab followed by BRAF and MEK inhibitor therapy, if necessary, should be the preferred treatment sequence for a large majority of patients.

In this contribution to the Special Issue, I highlight how Janice Kiecolt-Glaser's research in the 1980s planted the seeds for two areas of social relationships and health research: loneliness and intimate/marital relationships. I review the foundational “seed” studies from the mid-to late-1980s, the research “saplings” that sprouted and grew during the subsequent twenty years, and the “mature trees” that have gone on to fruit and grow their respective areas of inquiry over the past twenty years. In addition to highlighting the mature trees that have borne rich empirical fruit, my other goal for this contribution is to draw attention to ideas and concepts from Kiecolt-Glaser's work and writing that merit further conceptual and empirical examination in the next generation of research on social relationships, psychoneuroendocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology, and health.

Scholarly definitions of student success have become increasingly transactional and thereby reflect a specific form of modern utilitarianism. In this paper, we use a theological map to explore the terrain of contemporary student success scholarship and practice in an effort to re-imagine how the Christian faith might animate a vision of student success for scholar-practitioners. First, we review the current scholarly landscape, second, we show where it falls short. Third, we use the practical theological method to outline a theological vision of student success. Finally, we propose ways to bridge the gap between current practice and theological vision.

Faith-based colleges and universities in America have historically been described as "church-related." Unfortunately, this classification is too one-dimensional, revealing virtually nothing about how faith-based identity influences the mission, rhetoric, curriculum, or policies of institutions. Although scholars have advanced sophisticated typologies of Protestant and Catholic institutions, we propose that we still need a new means of empirical analysis to determine the degree to which the faith identity of an institution influences important administrative, curricular, and co-curricular decisions. We then apply our Operationalizing Faith Identity Guide (OFIG) to Protestant institutions in the United States to demonstrate the helpfulness of its application.

Although higher education scholars have examined chaplaincy in college and university settings, we are not aware of any studies that have sought to examine chaplains who live and serve in residence halls. As such, we conducted a collective case study of three Protestant institutions with residential chaplain roles--Taylor University, Pepperdine University, and Baylor University. We present an overview of each institutional model employed for residential chaplains and provide comparative analysis. All of the models we analyzed utilized students as residential chaplains, provided joint residence life and spiritual life training, navigated tensions with other roles in the institution, and took advantage of institution-specific resources and contexts. However, these roles had slightly different foci, used students of different academic levels, and were compensated in different ways. In light of our findings, we believe institutions without residential chaplains should see potential options for incorporating such a role into their campus structure, and those who already have residential chaplains should continue thinking about the structure, strengths, and benefits of their current models.

Abstract Several inefficiencies in drug development trial implementation may be improved by moving data collection from the clinic to mobile, allowing for more frequent measurements and therefore increased statistical power while aligning to a patient‐centric approach to trial design. Sensor‐based digital health technologies such as mobile spirometry (mSpirometry) are comparable to clinic spirometry for capturing outcomes, such as forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1); however, the impact of remote spirometry measurements on the detection of treatment effect has not been investigated. A protocol for a multicenter, single‐arm, open‐label interventional trial of long‐acting beta agonist (LABA) therapy among 60 participants with uncontrolled moderate asthma is described. Participants will complete twice‐daily mSpirometry at home and clinic spirometry during weekly visits, alongside continuous use of a wrist‐worn wearable and regular completion of several diaries capturing asthma symptoms as well as participant‐ and site‐reported satisfaction and ease of use of mSpirometry. The co‐primary objectives of this study are (A) to quantify the treatment effect of LABA therapy among participants with moderate asthma, using both clinical spirometry (FEV1c) and mSpirometry (FEV1m); and (B) to investigate whether FEV1m is as accurate as FEV1c in detecting the treatment effect using a mixed‐effect model for repeated measures. Study results will help inform whether the deployment of mSpirometry and a wrist‐worn wearable for remote data collection are feasible in a multicenter setting among participants with moderate asthma, which may then be generalizable to other populations with respiratory disease.

Hierarchies naturally emerge in social species, and judgments of status in these hierarchies have consequences for social relationships and health. Although judgments of social status are shaped by appearance, the physical cues that inform judgments of status remain unclear. The transition to college presents an opportunity to examine judgments of social status in a newly developing social hierarchy. We examined whether appearances-as measured by raters' judgments of photographs and videos-provide information about undergraduate students' social status at their university and in society in Study 1. Exploratory analyses investigated whether associations differed by participants' sex. Eighty-one first-year undergraduate students (Mage  =  18.20, SD  =  0.50; 64.2% female) provided photographs and videos and reported their social status relative to university peers and relative to other people in society. As hypothesized, when participants were judged to be more attractive and dominant they were also judged to have higher status. These associations were replicated in two additional samples of raters who evaluated smiling and neutral photographs from the Chicago Faces Database in Study 2. Multilevel models also revealed that college students with higher self-reported university social status were judged to have higher status, attractiveness, and dominance, although judgments were not related to self-reported society social status. Findings highlight that there is agreement between self-reports of university status and observer-perceptions of status based solely on photographs and videos, and suggest that appearance may shape newly developing social hierarchies, such as those that emerge during the transition to college.

BackgroundResearch suggests four modal trajectories of psychological symptoms after traumatic injury: Resilient, Chronic, Delayed Onset, Recovery. However, most studies focus on symptoms of psychiatric disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, depression), which are limited by heterogeneity and symptom overlap. We examined trajectories of cross-cutting posttraumatic symptom dimensions following traumatic injury and predictors of trajectory membership.MethodsIn this longitudinal study of 427 predominantly Hispanic/Latino traumatic injury survivors, posttraumatic psychopathology symptoms were assessed during hospitalization and approximately one and five months post-trauma. Using latent class growth analysis, we estimated trajectories of several posttraumatic symptom dimensions: re-experiencing, avoidance, anxious arousal, numbing, dysphoric arousal, loss, and threat. We then examined sociodemographic and trauma-related characteristics (measured during hospitalization) as predictors of trajectory membership for each dimension.ResultsFour trajectories (Resilient, Chronic, Delayed Onset, Recovery) emerged for all dimensions except loss and threat, which manifested three trajectories (Resilient, Chronic, Delayed Onset). Across dimensions, membership in the Chronic (vs. Resilient) trajectory was consistently predicted by unemployment (7 of 7 dimensions), followed by older age (3/7), female sex (3/7), and assaultive trauma (2/7). For several dimensions, unemployment also distinguished between participants who presented with similar symptom levels days after trauma, but then diverged over time.LimitationsMeasures of posttraumatic symptom dimension constructs differed across assessments.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence of distinct trajectories across transdiagnostic symptom dimensions after traumatic injury. Employment status emerged as the most important predictor of trajectory membership. Research is needed to better understand the etiologies and consequences of these posttraumatic symptom dimension trajectories.

ObjectivesBeliefs about aging can contribute to health and well-being in older adults. Feeling generative, or that one is caring for and contributing to the well-being of others, can also impact health and well-being. In this study, we hypothesized that those with more positive expectations regarding aging (ERA) in the mental health domain would report greater levels of perceived social support (PSS) and lower levels of loneliness in response to a generativity intervention (vs control condition).MethodParticipants in this study (n = 73, 100% female) were randomly assigned to a 6-week generativity condition, which involved writing about life experiences and sharing advice with others, or to a control condition, which involved writing about neutral topics. Pre- and postintervention, PSS, and feelings of loneliness were measured.ResultsThose in the generativity condition with more positive ERA in the mental health domain reported greater PSS and lower loneliness postintervention.DiscussionThese results highlight the importance of psychological factors, such as ERA, in moderating the efficacy of interventions to promote social well-being in older adults.

Objective: Both lower subjective social status (SSS)-or viewing oneself as having lower status relative to others-and greater early life stress consistently relate to poorer health in adolescence. Early life stress can also negatively influence one's social relationships and may thereby shape social status. The present studies investigated how early life stress relates to the development of SSS and how SSS relates to health across the transition to college.Design: In Study 1, 91 older adolescents (Mage = 18.37) reported early life stress, society SSS, and school SSS, and they reported their society SSS and school SSS again 2 years later. In Study 2, 94 first-year college students (Mage = 18.20) reported early life stress and society SSS at study entry and reported their dorm SSS, university SSS, and mental health monthly throughout the year.Results: Greater early life stress was related to lower society SSS, but not school SSS, in both studies. In Study 2, dorm and university SSS and early life stress were uniquely related to mental health, although associations weakened over time.Conclusion: Early life stress may predispose people to have low society SSS, and both low school SSS and high early life stress may increase risk for poorer health during transition periods.

Chronic stress can accelerate biological aging, offering one mechanism through which stress may increase age-related disease risk. Chronic activation of the sympathoadrenal system increases cellular energy production, resulting in cell stress that can initiate cellular senescence, a permanent state of cell growth arrest. Our previous research linked psychosocial stress with increased expression of senescence marker p16INK4a; however, less is known about the role of protective psychosocial factors in biological aging. We examined relationship closeness (perceived interconnectedness with one's spouse) as a protective buffer of the effects of stress on expression of the p16INK4a-encoding gene (CDKN2A) and transcription control pathways activated under cell stress. Seventy parents (Mage=43.2) completed interview-based and questionnaire measures of psychosocial stress and relationship closeness. Blood samples assessed CDKN2A expression and inferred activity of a priori-selected transcription factors Nrf2 and heat shock factors (HSFs) via genome-wide transcriptome profiling. Random intercept models adjusting for age, sex, and ethnicity/race revealed that perceived stress was associated with elevated CDKN2A expression for parents with low but not high closeness. Secondary bioinformatics analyses linked the interaction of perceived stress and relationship closeness to Nrf2 and HSF-1 activity. Findings identify relationship closeness as a protective factor that may buffer the impact of stress on cellular stress and senescence pathways.

BackgroundEarly life stress (ELS) has been linked to health disparities across the human lifespan, particularly increased risk for depression and its recurrence. In this study we explore two plausible and competing pathways through which ELS may lead to depression via inflammation.MethodsParticipants (ages 18-22; n = 41) completed the Early Trauma Inventory as a measure of ELS. Participants then completed consecutive daily diaries of mood and other sickness behavior for the 7 days prior to and 7 days after receiving the annual influenza vaccine. Circulating concentrations of plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured immediately before and 24 hr after vaccination.ResultsELS was not associated with the magnitude of change in IL-6 from pre- to post-vaccine, however, exposure to ELS moderated the association between change in IL-6 from pre- to post-vaccine and changes in both cognitive difficulty and depressed mood. Individuals exposed to greater ELS showed greater psychological sensitivity to increases in IL-6.ConclusionsExposure to ELS may increase sensitivity to peripheral inflammation in the central nervous system. Future studies elaborating on the impact of ELS on the sensitivity of specific neural circuits and cells to inflammation are needed.

The relationship between faith-based institutions and students who identify as LGBTQ+ has attracted considerable attention of late. Most of this scholarly attention, however, has focused upon the students themselves. In this article, we examine the contemporary experience of 371 student affairs leaders (SALs) who serve as the primary mediators between the desires and demands of LGBTQ+ advocates, scholars, and students, and the policies of current administrators. This article reports on previously unexplored data from a larger grounded theory study on Christ-enlivened student affairs to answer the research question: How do SALs at Christian universities approach LGBTQ+ students in light of the Christian mission of their institutions? Data were collected using a qualitative questionnaire of 301 SALs, as well as extended interviews with 70 SALs. Participants' moral/theological responses included a collection of Christian virtues and rules. They indicated a range of helpful practices--including how they handled campus groups--but generally agreed on the dearth of training and education they had received on the topic. In our discussion, we compare our findings to the recommendations of previous scholars before elaborating our own list of recommendations. Our suggestions for Christian campuses include a re-imagined policy statement, a commitment to education rather than training, a focus on the spiritual needs of students, and some recommendations for LGBTQ+ campus groups.

Scholars studying Christian higher education frequently suggest that faculty are the campus constituents with the most influence over the future of an institution's Christian mission. Thus, both faculty hiring and development are important elements for maintaining and strengthening the Christian identity of a university over time. Despite this importance, we do not know of a study that has surveyed the missional faculty-development processes of Christian colleges and universities. We utilized a survey research design to determine how Christian institutions educate faculty to integrate their Christian mission into their teaching, scholarship, and institutional service. We found that institutions tended to offer introductory trainings and workshops early in the career of faculty. After these early programs, the most effective faculty development resources identified were the conversations facilitated through discipline-specific academic journals and professional organizations. Moving forward, the institutions from which we heard hoped for increased resources and institutional prioritization for these conversations, especially at the advanced and senior faculty level. In conclusion, we suggest four opportunities for practical innovation to ensure future growth and engagement of faculty development for Christian mission: include a proactive approach to hiring practices, place a renewed emphasis on Christ-animated scholarship, continue to expand the conversation beyond the humanities, and introduce programming and incentives aimed at engaging senior faculty.

Research describing students' perceived moral growth, instead of research based on a scholar's predetermined vision of moral growth is sorely lacking. What do students themselves perceive as the nature and extent of their moral development or regression during their college years? What do they identify as the major positive or negative influences on their moral growth or decline? These two research questions guided this qualitative case study at Baylor University. Through interviews with a 69-person representative sample of undergraduates in their senior year, we asked students to describe what factors stimulated the moral growth they experienced during their years at Baylor. Interestingly, students pointed to their peers and the cocurriculum as the primary sources of moral influence. Through a variety of college contexts, they learned to practice various virtues and acquired new moral mentors and models from whom they gained "moral expertise." Campus student organizations and other student groups helped students engage in service, acquire leadership virtues, and find older moral mentors. By contrast, the curricular domain was seen as less influential, providing mainly limited cognitive moral knowledge relevant to their professional lives.

We present a case of a U.S. marine who experienced cardiac arrest during military Special Forces underwater diving exercises whose evaluation revealed congenital long QT syndrome. This case highlights the expanding role for systematic electrocardiogram screening in target athletic and military populations given their stress and tactical exposures. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.)

Generativity, or concern for and contribution to the well-being of younger generations, plays an important role in successful aging. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel, writing-based intervention to increase feelings of generativity and test the effect of this intervention on well-being and inflammation in a sample of older women. Participants in this study (n = 73; mean age = 70.9 years, range 60-86 years) were randomly assigned to a 6-week generativity writing condition (writing about life experiences and sharing advice with others) or a control writing condition (neutral, descriptive writing). Self-reported measures of social well-being, mental health, and physical health, as well as objective measures of systemic and cellular levels of inflammation (plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α; genome-wide RNA transcriptional profiling), were assessed pre- and post-intervention. The generativity intervention led to significant improvements across multiple domains, including increases in participation in social activities, decreases in psychological distress, more positive expectations regarding aging in the physical health domain, and decreases in pro-inflammatory gene expression. Thus, this study provides preliminary evidence for the ability of a novel, low-cost, low-effort intervention to favorably impact inflammation and well-being in older women.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Emotion on Sep 5 2019 (see record 2019-52812-001). In the article, two text call outs for figures are incorrect. At the end of the "Negative emotional responses" section under the "Psychological Stress Responses" heading, "(see Figure 7)" should have been deleted. Under the "Negative task-related ruminative thoughts" heading in that same section, "(see Figure 5)" in the first paragraph should be "(see Figure 7)."] Expressing emotions is a common strategy for coping with stress. Yet, little is known about the effects of using this strategy in close relationships, or when and for whom emotional expression is effective. This study examined romantic partner responsiveness and the dispositional tendency to use emotional approach coping (EAC; the processing and expression of emotions) as moderators of the effects of experimentally manipulated emotional expression on stress responses to a laboratory stressor. We brought couples (N = 145) to the lab and randomly assigned 1 partner (the participant) to perform a stressful task. We manipulated whether participants expressed their feelings about the task to their partner (expression vs. no-expression), and whether participants received supportive messages from their partners (as an indicator of partner responsiveness; support vs. no-support). We examined physiological stress responses (cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase [sAA]), negative emotional stress responses (anxiety and self-conscious emotions), and post-task ruminative thoughts. Participants high in EAC showed larger sAA and cortisol responses and reported more negative post-task ruminative thoughts after emotionally expressing to their partners, but partner support mitigated the effect on cortisol. Participants low in EAC showed smaller cortisol responses and reported less negative emotional responses and fewer negative post-task ruminative thoughts after emotionally expressing to their partners. Receiving partner support reduced negative emotional responses for people high in EAC, but increased negative emotional responses for those low in EAC. These results may help explain when and for whom emotional expression is an effective means of coping in the immediate context of a stressor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

It is imperative that research interrogating the biological pathways linking stress processes to health continue to translate the results of basic, preclinical experimental research to diverse and under-represented populations, particularly those at elevated risk for morbidity and mortality. Conducting research within these populations and in community settings involves a number of challenges that ultimately contribute to their rarity and uneven quality in the scientific literature. In this review, we summarize the experiences and insights of members of an expert panel on this topic held at the 2018 meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology in Newport Beach, CA. The goals of the session were to identify challenges and share strategies for testing plausible biopsychosocial models within diverse community samples in order to encourage others and improve future research. The present paper is organized into three themes: 1) Recruitment and retention, 2) Collecting biological samples outside of the laboratory, 3) Data analysis, interpretation, and dissemination. Our goal in composing this overview of the conference session was to share within the field of psychoneuroendocrinology the challenges inherent in translating basic research to community populations.

BackgroundAlterations in reward processing are a central feature of depression and may be influenced by inflammation. Indeed, inflammation is associated with deficits in reward-related processes in animal models and with dysregulation in reward-related neural circuitry in humans. However, the downstream behavioral manifestations of such impairments are rarely examined in humans.MethodsThe influenza vaccination was used to elicit a mild inflammatory response in 41 healthy young adults (age range: 18-22, 30 female). Participants provided blood samples and completed behavioral measures of three key aspects of reward-reward motivation, reward learning, and reward sensitivity-before and 1 day after receiving the influenza vaccine.ResultsThe influenza vaccine led to mild but significant increases in circulating levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p  .288).ConclusionsThese findings contribute to an emerging literature on the nuanced associations between inflammation and reward and demonstrate that even mild alterations in inflammation are associated with multiple facets of reward processing.

Previous research has linked exposure to adverse social conditions with DNA damage and accelerated telomere shortening, raising the possibility that chronic stress may impact biological aging pathways, ultimately increasing risk for age-related diseases. Less clear, however, is whether these stress-related effects extend to additional hallmarks of biological aging, including cellular senescence, a stable state of cell cycle arrest. The present study aimed to investigate associations between psychosocial stress and two markers of cellular aging-leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and cellular senescence signal p16INK4a. Seventy-three adults (Mage = 43.0, SD = 7.2; 55% female) with children between 8-13 years of age completed interview-based and questionnaire measures of their exposures to and experiences of stress, as well as daily reports of stress appraisals over an 8-week diary period. Blood samples were used to assess markers of cellular aging: LTL and gene expression of senescent cell signal p16INK4a (CDKN2A). Random effects models covarying for age, sex, ethnicity/race, and BMI revealed that participants with greater chronic stress exposure over the previous 6 months (b = 0.011, p =  .04), perceived stress (b = 0.020, p

Physician involvement in political advocacy has become increasingly important in recent years. This study aims to explore the types of involvement and barriers to involvement in political advocacy among American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) members, identify issues considered most important by ASES members, and assess demographic factors that might correlate with involvement in political advocacy efforts among ASES members. This survey was conducted by the ASES Political Advocacy Committee over a 2-week period in June 2021. The survey collected demographic information including sex, ethnicity, years in practice, practice type, political affiliation, and level of current involvement in political advocacy. Additional questions consisted of thoughts regarding current health care policy issues and the role of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/ASES regarding such policy issues. We received 297 responses for a total response rate of 27%. Of those who responded, 24.6% identified as Democrat, 33% identified as Republican, and 42.4% identified as Independent. There was no difference in political affiliation between membership groups. Physician Reimbursement (82%), Medical Liability Reform (50%), and Physician Ownership (50%) were the most important issues identified among respondents. Physician Ownership, Physician Reimbursement and Graduate Medical Education and Student Loan Reform were most important to those in early practice, while Quality and Research was most important to those with greater than 25 years of practice experience. There is strong agreement among surgeons regarding the most important political advocacy issues. The efforts of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and ASES should focus on these areas. Additionally, the vast majority of respondents felt that advocacy efforts had a positive impact on patients and surgeons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a focus on the holistic formation of students, nonreligious narratives shape student affairs theories and professional practice guidelines. Recognizing this problem, Christian scholar-practitioners have authored a growing body of literature about what might be distinct about Christian student affairs. This article provides an analysis of the theological foundations used in this literature. Our aim was to locate the unique theological building blocks for a more comprehensive Christian theology of student affairs. Our analysis found that placing and practicing the profession of student affairs within the Christian narrative produced noteworthy distinctives in every aspect of student affairs.

Effective regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) has been linked to numerous health outcomes. Within-person variation in diurnal measures of HPA-axis regulation assessed over days, months, and years can range between 50-73% of total variation. In this study of 59 youth (ages 8-13), we quantified the stability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal slope, and tonic cortisol concentrations at waking and bedtime across 8 days (2 sets of 4 consecutive days separated by 3 weeks), 3 weeks, and 3 years. We then compared the stability of these indices across three key developmental factors: age, pubertal status, and sex. Youth provided 4 saliva samples per day (waking, 30 min post-waking, before dinner, and before bedtime) for 4 consecutive days during the 3rd week of an ongoing 8-week daily diary study. Youth repeated this same sampling procedure 3 weeks and 3 years later. Using multi-level modeling, we computed the amount of variance in diurnal HPA-axis regulation that was accounted for by nesting an individual's diurnal cortisol indices within days, weeks, or years. Across days, diurnal slope was the most stable index, whereas waking cortisol and CAR were the least stable. All indices except bedtime cortisol were similarly stable when measured across weeks, and all indices were uniformly stable when measured across 3 years. Boys, younger participants, and youth earlier in their pubertal development at study enrollment exhibited greater HPA-axis stability overall compared with females and older, more physically mature participants. We conclude that important within- and between-subjects questions can be answered about health and human development by studying HPA-axis regulation, and selection of the index of interest should be determined in part by its psychometric characteristics. To this end, we propose a decision tree to guide study design for research in pediatric samples by longitudinal timeframe and sample characteristics.

Functional porous materials are of increasing importance in energy conversion and catalysis. Improved analysis is needed to guide optimization. Four-dimensional (4D) imaging [chemical mapping in three-dimensional (3D) by spectro-tomography] of an Al2O3 aerogel coated with ZnO by atomic layer deposition was performed using soft X-ray ptychography at the Zn L-edge. A two-dimensional spatial resolution of 14(2) nm was achieved. Visualizations of the 3D chemical structure are provided. The degree of ZnO coverage of the surface of the Al2O3 aerogel framework in two different samples was estimated and found to be both thicker and less homogeneous than expected. Other analyses of the 4D results, including the degree of contact between Al2O3 and ZnO, were extracted from the reconstructed 3D data. This pioneering soft X-ray spectro-ptycho-tomography study will anchor further studies of functional porous materials.

A wealth of evidence has implicated inflammation in the development of depression. Yet, the heterogeneous nature of depression has impeded efforts to understand, prevent, and treat the disease. The purpose of this integrative review is to summarize the connections between inflammation and established core features of depression that exhibit more homogeneity than the syndrome itself: exaggerated reactivity to negative information, altered reward processing, decreased cognitive control, and somatic syndrome. For each core feature, we first provide a brief overview of its relevance to depression and neurobiological underpinnings, and then review evidence investigating a potential role of inflammation. We focus primarily on findings from experimental paradigms of exogenously-induced inflammation. We conclude that inflammation likely plays a role in exaggerated reactivity to negative information, altered reward reactivity, and somatic symptoms. There is less evidence supporting an effect of inflammation on cognitive control as assessed by standard neuropsychological measures. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and recommendationsfor how to test the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of heterogeneous psychiatric disorders.

Interparental conflict is a common source of psychosocial stress in the lives of children. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between recent interparental conflict and one component of the physiological stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis. Parents of 42 children (ages 8-13 years) completed daily diaries of interparental conflict for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8 weeks, youth participated in the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) while providing 2 pre- and 4 poststress salivary cortisol samples. Youth whose fathers reported a pattern of increasing interparental conflict over the past 8 weeks demonstrated an exaggerated HPA-axis response to acute stress. Mother-reported interparental conflict was not associated with children's HPA-axis responses without accounting for fathers' reports. When accounting for fathers' reports, the offspring of mothers reporting higher average daily interparental conflict demonstrated an attenuated HPA-axis response to the stressor. By estimating both average exposure and recent patterns of change in exposure to conflict, we address the circumstances that may prompt attenuation versus sensitization of the HPA-axis in the context of interparental conflict. We conclude that the HPA-axis is sensitive to proximal increases in interparental conflict which may be one pathway through which stress affects health across development, and that incorporating father's reports is important to understanding the role of the family environment in stress responses. This study further demonstrates the value of using intensive repeated measures and multiple reporters to characterize children's psychosocial environment. (PsycINFO Database Record

Existing research on childhood adversity and health risk across the lifespan lacks specificity regarding which types of exposures to assess and when. The purpose of this study was to contribute to an empirically-supported framework to guide practitioners interested in identifying youth who may be at greatest risk for a lifelong trajectory of health disparities. We also sought to identify the point in childhood at which screening for adversity exposure would capture the largest group of at risk individuals for triage to prevention and intervention services. Participants (n = 4036) collected as part of the Midlife in the United States study reported their medical status and history including physical (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cancer) and mental health (depression, substance use problems, sleep problems). Participants indicated whether they were exposed to 7 adversities at any point in childhood and their age of exposure to 19 additional lifetime adversities before the age of 18. Parent drug abuse, dropping out or failing out of school, being fired from a job, and sexual assault during childhood exhibited the largest effect sizes on health in adulthood, which were comparable to the effects of childhood maltreatment. Childhood adversity screening in early adolescence may identify the largest proportion of youth at risk for negative health trajectories. The results of this descriptive analysis provide an empirical framework to guide screening for childhood adversity in pediatric populations. We discuss the implications of these observations in the context of prevention science and practice.

Purpose We evaluated the combination of talimogene laherparepvec plus ipilimumab versus ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma in a phase II study. To our knowledge, this was the first randomized trial to evaluate addition of an oncolytic virus to a checkpoint inhibitor. Methods Patients with unresectable stages IIIB to IV melanoma, with no more than one prior therapy if BRAF wild-type, no more than two prior therapies if BRAF mutant, measurable/injectable disease, and without symptomatic autoimmunity or clinically significant immunosuppression were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive talimogene laherparepvec plus ipilimumab or ipilimumab alone. Talimogene laherparepvec treatment began in week 1 (first dose, ≤ 4 mL × 106 plaque-forming units/mL; after 3 weeks, ≤ 4 mL × 108 plaque-forming units/mL every 2 weeks). Ipilimumab (3 mg/kg every 3 weeks; up to four doses) began week 1 in the ipilimumab alone arm and week 6 in the combination arm. The primary end point was objective response rate evaluated by investigators per immune-related response criteria. Results One hundred ninety-eight patients were randomly assigned to talimogene laherparepvec plus ipilimumab (n = 98), or ipilimumab alone (n = 100). Thirty-eight patients (39%) in the combination arm and 18 patients (18%) in the ipilimumab arm had an objective response (odds ratio, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.5 to 5.5; P = .002). Responses were not limited to injected lesions; visceral lesion decreases were observed in 52% of patients in the combination arm and 23% of patients in the ipilimumab arm. Frequently occurring adverse events (AEs) included fatigue (combination, 59%; ipilimumab alone, 42%), chills (combination, 53%; ipilimumab alone, 3%), and diarrhea (combination, 42%; ipilimumab alone, 35%). Incidence of grade ≥ 3 AEs was 45% and 35%, respectively. Three patients in the combination arm had fatal AEs; none were treatment related. Conclusion The study met its primary end point; the objective response rate was significantly higher with talimogene laherparepvec plus ipilimumab versus ipilimumab alone. These data indicate that the combination has greater antitumor activity without additional safety concerns versus ipilimumab.