Colwick Wilson

The South Africa Stress and Health Study: Rationale and Design

The South Africa Stress and Health Study (SASH) is a large psychiatric epidemiological survey that is currently underway in South Africa. It is a part of the World Health Organizations World Mental Health (WMH) 2000 initiative and seeks to complete interviews with a nationally representative sample of 5000 adults. The WMH initiative is obtaining population-based data on the prevalence and severity of specific psychiatric disorders, demographic and psychosocial correlates of these diagnoses, and the levels and adequacy of mental health service utilization. SASH is using the fully structured pencil and paper version of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess lifetime and 12-month rates of mental disorders using both the DSM-IV and the ICD-10 diagnostic systems. In addition, the SASH seeks to collect information on the prevalence of exposure to physical and psychological torture in South Africa and to assess the association between such traumas and specific psychiatric disorders. It will also assess a broad range of risk factors and resources that may modify the association between exposure to human rights violations and mental health.

Culture, Black Men, and Prostate Cancer: What Is Reality?

BACKGROUND The worldwide incidence of prostate cancer is higher among American black men than any other male group. In the United States, lack of participation in screening for prostate cancer by black men is influenced by several cultural factors, including knowledge, health beliefs, barriers, and relationships with primary healthcare providers. METHODS We used the qualitative and paralleling descriptive quantitative findings of a mixed-method longitudinal study exploring prostate cancer screening behaviors among 277 black men. RESULTS Five themes were identified as critical elements affecting mens screening for prostate cancer: lack of knowledge, communication, social support, quality of care, and sexuality. These themes were associated with a sense of disconnectedness by black men from the healthcare system and contributed to nonparticipation in prostate cancer early detection activities. CONCLUSIONS Lack of discussion about the decision to screen for prostate cancer and general lack of culturally appropriate communication with healthcare providers has engendered distrust, created fear, fostered disconnect, and increased the likelihood of nonparticipation in prostate cancer screening among black men.

Cohort profile: The biopsychosocial religion and health study (BRHS).

How did the study come about? In The Secrets of Long Life in the National Geographic Buettner explored longevity among three communities in Sardinia Italy, Okinawa Japan, and Loma Linda California. Loma Linda is largely a community of 7th-day Adventists. In 1969 initial research found that among individuals surviving past age 35 Adventist women in California lived 3.7 years longer than their counterparts and Adventist men 6.2 years longer. In a later, larger California sample the differences were even stronger—4.4 years for women and 7.3 years for men. Exercise, vegetarian diet, not smoking, eating nuts and social support have been found to predict longevity in Adventists. Yet even when these and several psychological variables are controlled church attendance still predicts greater longevity. Interest has been increasing regarding the association of both mental and physical health with religion or spirituality. There have been a number of literature reviews that have concluded that the associations of religion and health are largely positive. In fact, Hall concluded religious attendance was more cost-effective in increasing longevity than statin-type medications. While some have questioned the quality of these research conclusions and others have pointed out that the benefits or costs of religion may vary depending on the indicator of religious involvement, there is general agreement regarding the need for more and better research on the subject. Nonetheless, Hummer and his colleagues concluded there was consistent evidence that religious attendance was associated with lower mortality risk in cross-sectional and prospective studies. They also concluded there was a need for more diverse measures of religious involvement, comparison among specific subpopulations, and a better understanding of the pathways by which religion might influence health (p. 1226). It was with this goal in mind that this Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study was developed.

Spouses in mixed‐orientation marriage: A 20‐year review of empirical studies

Empirical studies on mixed-orientation marriage in social science journals from 1988 to 2008 were reviewed. Fifteen articles published in eight peer-reviewed journals were identified and discussed in terms of sampling, design, measures, rigor, theoretical framework, and literature review. An overview of each study is provided along with a summary of critical findings. Implications and recommendations for future research and education are offered.

Managing Worldview Influences: Self-Awareness and Self-Supervision in a Cross-Cultural Therapeutic Relationship

Using qualitative research methods, a culturally diverse group of 22 graduated masters level marriage and family therapist interns were interviewed about their approach to relationship-building with a cross-cultural client. Interviews were conducted in southern California. Results indicate that participants rely on heightened efforts of self-supervision to manage the influences of their culturally informed beliefs and preconceptions of cross-cultural clients. Also, the findings suggest that self-supervision efforts are so pervasive that contextual variables contributing to psychosocial differences between therapist and client are relegated to secondary concerns. Implications for building therapeutic relationships and self-supervision processes are discussed.

Couple's relationship with diabetes: means and meanings for management success.

Diabetes is a serious chronic illness that involves individuals, couples, and families in complex reciprocal interactions with the illness and other life dimensions. A major issue in diabetes management is how well the patient is able to follow the established medical regimen of selfcare. Situated within personal, physical, and social contexts, the meaning that a couple creates and the emotions they feel in their adaptation to living with diabetes and its demanding regimen can be viewed as the couples relationship with diabetes.

Seven Types of Nonsexual Romantic Physical Affection among Brigham Young University Students

College students from Brigham Young University (N = 186; 68 men, 118 women, M age = 22.7 yr., SD = 3.5) completed a survey regarding nonsexual, romantic physical affection—defined as any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver or the recipient. Respondents included both dating and married individuals, although this was not specified on the questionnaire. This descriptive study reports the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation for each of the seven physical affection types: backrubs/massages, caressing/stroking, cuddling/holding, holding hands, hugging, kissing on the face, and kissing on the lips. Grouped frequency distributions further describe the amounts of each type of physical affection. Although physical affection has been underrepresented in the literature, studies have shown it to be associated with relationship satisfaction, partner satisfaction, psychological intimacy, feeling understood, the development of attachment bonds, modulating cardiovascular arousal, and easier conflict resolution.

Mexican American Family’s Perceptions of the Multirelational Influences on Their Adolescent’s Engagement in Substance Use Treatment

Adolescent substance use is a significant challenge for adolescents, their families, and the larger society. Clinicians and researchers continue to explore ways to effectively engage both families and substance using adolescents in an effort to improve treatment outcome. Therapeutic engagement can be especially difficult for immigrant families facing a variety of systemic and contextual factors that impact both treatment-seeking and engagement behaviors. This study explored the perceptions Mexican American families had about the processes that they feel hindered or contributed to their engagement in therapy. Major findings include identification of a multirelational engagement process linking specific relational dynamics to engagement outcomes including breaking cultural rules, sharing stories, managing fear of criticism, and building relational bridges.

Religious Involvement and Health-Related Behaviors Among Black Seventh-Day Adventists in Canada

Background. Most studies that involve Black Seventh-Day Adventists (SDAs) have been conducted in the United States. We sought to examine the association between religious involvement and lifestyle practices among Black SDAs in Canada. Method. A convenience sample of 509 Black SDA church members 18 years and older completed a self-administered questionnaire, assessing religious involvement and seven lifestyle practices promoted by the SDA church: diet, physical activity, water intake, exposure to sunlight, alcohol use, caffeine and tobacco use, and rest. Results. Compliance with lifestyle practices ranged from a low of 10% meeting fitness guidelines to a high of 99% abstaining from tobacco products. Religious involvement and lifestyle were positively related (rs = .11, p < .05). Multivariate analyses indicated that private religious practice (β = .16, p =.003), importance of the health principles (β = .17, p = .003), and acceptance of health principles (β = .65, p = .00001) significantly predicted the number of behaviors practiced. Conclusion. Greater religious involvement is associated with positive lifestyle practices but is not an independent predictor of lifestyle practices for Black Canadian SDAs.

Immunoseroproteomic Profiling in African American Men with Prostate Cancer: Evidence for an Autoantibody Response to Glycolysis and Plasminogen-Associated Proteins

African American (AA) men suffer from a disproportionately high incidence and mortality of prostate cancer (PCa) compared with other racial/ethnic groups. Despite these disparities, African American men are underrepresented in clinical trials and in studies on PCa biology and biomarker discovery. We used immunoseroproteomics to profile antitumor autoantibody responses in AA and European American (EA) men with PCa, and explored differences in these responses. This minimally invasive approach detects autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens that could serve as clinical biomarkers and immunotherapeutic agents. Sera from AA and EA men with PCa were probed by immunoblotting against PC3 cell proteins, with AA sera showing stronger immunoreactivity. Mass spectrometry analysis of immunoreactive protein spots revealed that several AA sera contained autoantibodies to a number of proteins associated with both the glycolysis and plasminogen pathways, particularly to alpha-enolase (ENO1). The proteomic data is deposited in ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD003968. Analysis of sera from 340 racially diverse men by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) showed higher frequency of anti-ENO1 autoantibodies in PCa sera compared with control sera. We observed differences between AA-PCa and EA-PCa patients in their immunoreactivity against ENO1. Although EA-PCa sera reacted with higher frequency against purified ENO1 in ELISA and recognized by immunoblotting the endogenous cellular ENO1 across a panel of prostate cell lines, AA-PCa sera reacted weakly against this protein by ELISA but recognized it by immunoblotting preferentially in metastatic cell lines. These race-related differences in immunoreactivity to ENO1 could not be accounted by differential autoantibody recognition of phosphoepitopes within this antigen. Proteomic analysis revealed differences in the posttranslational modification profiles of ENO1 variants differentially recognized by AA-PCa and EA-PCa sera. These intriguing results suggest the possibility of race-related differences in the antitumor autoantibody response in PCa, and have implications for defining novel biological determinants of PCa health disparities.