Maurice Stringer

Stroke: Awareness of the Signs, Symptoms and Risk Factors – A Population-Based Survey

Background: This article reports the findings from a population-based survey conducted to determine baseline knowledge regarding the signs, symptoms and risk factors of stroke. Methods: Data were collected in Northern Ireland from 892 adults using a self-completed questionnaire. Results: In general, the results indicate that respondents appeared knowledgeable about the risk factors of stroke but their recognition of the warning signs was poor. In addition, approximately half of those surveyed would not contact the ambulance service in the case of a suspected stroke but instead would make initial contact with their general practitioner (41.5%) or family/relatives (2.3%). Conclusions: Given the importance of early hospital presentation for effective stroke rehabilitation, these findings are of particular concern in a community where the death rate from stroke is one of the highest in Europe. Future health education campaigns should provide accurate and appropriate information regarding the warning signs of stroke and highlight the importance of early hospital presentation.

Adult experience of mental health outcomes as a result of intimate partner violence victimisation: a systematic review

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been known to adversely affect the mental health of victims. Research has tended to focus on the mental health impact of physical violence rather than considering other forms of violence. Objective To systematically review the literature in order to identify the impact of all types of IPV victimisation on various mental health outcomes. Method A systematic review of 11 electronic databases (2004–2014) was conducted. Fifty eight papers were identified and later described and reviewed in relation to the main objective. Results Main findings suggest that IPV can have increasing adverse effects on the mental health of victims in comparison with those who have never experienced IPV or those experiencing other traumatic events. The most significant outcomes were associations between IPV experiences with depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. Findings confirm previous observations that the severity and extent of IPV exposure can increase mental health symptoms. The effect of psychological violence on mental health is more prominent than originally thought. Individual differences such as gender and childhood experience of violence also increase IPV risk and affect mental health outcomes in diverse ways. Conclusions Psychological violence should be considered as a more serious form of IPV which can affect the mental health of victims. Experiencing more than one form of IPV can increase severity of outcomes. Researchers should look at IPV as a multi-dimensional experience. A uniformed definition and measure of IPV could help advance knowledge and understanding of this disparaging global issue.

Social identity and intergroup evaluative bias: Realistic categories and domain specific self-esteem in a conflict setting

Social identity theory predicts a link between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. Previous research has failed to find consistent support for this prediction. Much of this research has, however, been beset by a number of methodological shortcomings. These shortcomings may have hindered attempts to discern a consistent relationship between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. The current investigation sought to overcome these difficulties by utilizing, realistic groups, multidimensional measures of self-esteem and testing self-esteem before and after the manifestation of intergroup evaluative bias. The results demonstrate that when the members of realistic groups engage in evaluative intergroup bias, the esteem in which they hold specific self-images is enhanced. Of the 13 facets of self-esteem delineated by the instrument used in the present study significant increases were found in six particular domains: honesty, academic ability, verbal ability, physical appearance, religion and parental relations. Global self-esteem was unaffected by the display of bias. These findings emphasize the importance of using realistic groups and domain specific self-esteem when attempting to assess the role of self-esteem in intergroup discrimination.

Intergroup contact, friendship quality and political attitudes in integrated and segregated schools in Northern Ireland.

BACKGROUND This study examines the effects of integrated and segregated schooling on Northern Irish childrens self-reported contact and friendship with members of the other denominational group in school and community settings. AIM To assess the effects of cross group friendships and cross group contacts in school and outside school on childrens political attitudes. SAMPLE A cross-sectional design was employed with 1732 children being assessed at three age levels 11,12 & 14 years in eight-matched integrated, maintained (Catholic) and controlled (Protestant) schools. METHOD Lisrel modelling was used to investigate the interrelationships among cross group friendship quality, cross group contacts in school and outside school and childrens political attitudes. RESULTS Intergroup contact within and outside school was reported frequently in integrated schools but only occasionally in segregated schools. Modelling revealed that cross group contacts in school and outside school were both associated with less extreme political attitudes. Friendship quality with cross group members had no significant effects on political attitudes. CONCLUSIONS The results provide support for educating Protestants and Catholics together as a means of moderating attitudes and creating cross-community friendships in a divided society.

Threats to group value, domain-specific self-esteem and intergroup discrimination amongst minimal and national groups

The research reported in this investigation sought to examine the self-esteem hypothesis (SEH) using measures of domain-specific and public collective self-esteem (CSE). Two studies were conducted. Each tested both propositions of the SEH. The first study revealed that minimal group members (a) experienced an increase in that domain of self-esteem judged to be relatively more important to the in-group, following the display of in-group favouritism and (b) that minimal group members with low public CSE (and who thus believed that the in-group was negatively evaluated by the out-group) showed enhanced levels of in-group favouritism. The second study, which utilized the members of real social categories (i.e. New Zealanders and Australians) and negative outcome allocations (i.e. white noise) revealed identical findings. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Communicating Social Identity: A Study of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland

This article examined communicative aspects of social identity theory in the context of the deeply divided community of Northern Ireland. Self-disclosure was selected for analysis, given its central role in the development of cross-group friendships and related reduction of negative bias towards the outgroup. In view of previous research on factors that mediate the decision to self-disclose to the outgroup, and using the Disclosure Decision Model as a guiding framework, the authors hypothesized that outgroup contact would be a key determinant of disclosure but that contact would be mediated by degree of trust and attraction for the outgroup, as well as by strength of ingroup identification. The findings supported these predictions. The results are discussed both in relation to the importance of communication facets of social identity theory and in light of wider policy implications for cross-group communication in Northern Ireland.

Identifying latent profiles of posttraumatic stress and major depression symptoms in Canadian veterans: Exploring differences across profiles in health related functioning

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been consistently reported as being highly comorbid with major depressive disorder (MDD) and as being associated with health related functional impairment (HRF). We used archival data from 283 previously war-zone deployed Canadian veterans. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to uncover patterns of PTSD and MDD comorbidity as measured via the PTSD Checklist-Military version (PCL-M) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Individual membership of latent classes was used in a series of one-way ANOVAs to ascertain group differences related to HRF as measured via the Short-Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). LPA resulted in three discrete patterns of PTSD and MDD comorbidity which were characterized by high symptoms of PTSD and MDD, moderate symptoms, and low symptoms. All ANOVAs comparing class membership on the SF-36 subscales were statistically significant demonstrating group differences across levels of HRF. The group with the highest symptoms reported the worst HRF followed by the medium and low symptom groups. These findings are clinically relevant as they demonstrate the need for continual assessment and targeted treatment of co-occurring PTSD and MDD.

Parental and School Effects on Children's Political Attitudes in Northern Ireland.

BACKGROUND Recent research has suggested that intergroup contacts with out-group members can both reduce prejudice and is associated with attitude change. AIM This study extends prior work in Northern Ireland to examine parental and schooling effects on childrens attitudes in a post-conflict environment. SAMPLE A large-scale cross-sectional survey of secondary schoolchildren (N=1,732) and their parents (N=800) in Northern Ireland assessed the effects of in-school and out-of-school intergroup contacts on intergroup attitudes. METHOD Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to examine associations between childrens political attitudes and parental, group membership, school, and contact variables. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that parental attitudes, group membership, and cross-group contacts explain the majority of variance (58%) in childrens political attitudes. The findings provide a comprehensive account of the factors that influence childrens political attitudes within a deeply divided society and offer teachers and educationalists a way to improve community relations in a segregated society.

Micro-Ecological Behavior and Intergroup Contact

ABSTRACT Research evaluating intergroup contact has tended to rely on self-report measures. Drawing on recent micro-ecological research, the two studies reported here used a multi-method approach to examine contact in a more holistic fashion. This involved the measurement of observable behavior at the micro-level, intergroup attitudes via infrahumanization and focus groups. Participants were taking part in a community intervention program in Northern Ireland. We conclude that micro-ecological behavior is not necessarily indicative of outgroup attitudes. Although behavior and attitudes changed in line with one another in Study 1 (less aggregation and significantly less infrahumanization), there were no infrahumanization differences between those who sat beside an outgroup member and those who did not. Importantly, the work presented here illustrates a unique method that allows micro-ecological behavioral observations to be made for the first time in non-racial settings.

New Measures of Political Attitudes in Northern Ireland: a social identity perspective

Twenty-eight measures of political attitudes were validated on a sample of 388 undergraduate students from Northern Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the scales to be unidimensional, discriminantly valid, with generally excellent reliabilities. The pattern of intergroup differentiation between Catholics and Protestants conformed to Social Identity Theory, with maximum differentiation on important issues, Catholics adopting a social change ideology and Protestants defending the status quo. Catholics and Protestants resolved their respective group associations with violence by condemning both it and terrorism, and also reported interdenominational friendships. The utility of these new measures of political attitudes in terms of measuring changes due to political initiatives, cross-community reconciliation programmes and in assessing changes in attitudes as a result of integrated or segregated denominational schooling within the Province is outlined. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.