Susan M. DiGiacomo

Consumo diario de tabaco en la adolescencia, estados de ánimo negativos y rol de la comunicación familiar

OBJECTIVE To determine whether negative mood states constitute a risk factor for daily smoking during adolescence, and to specify the role of familial factors in the association between the two variables. METHODS Cross-sectional study of a representative sample (second wave, Panel of Families and Childhood) of Catalan adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age. Six logistic regression models were used for girls (n = 1,442) and six for boys (n =1,100) in order to determine whether negative mood states constitute a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption, and to what extent this effect is attributable to familial factors. RESULTS The prevalence of daily smoking at ages 17-18 is 3.8% for girls and 3.6 for boys. Feelings of sadness constitute a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption (odds ratio [OR] = 1.633), and communication with the father cancels out this effect. Parental pressure is a risk factor for daily smoking in both sexes (girls, OR = 2.064; boys, OR = 1.784). When parental communication is controlled for, this effect is reduced but not canceled out. Living in a reconstituted family is a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption among boys (OR = 2.988). CONCLUSIONS Intergenerational communication decreases the risk of daily tobacco use among adolescents independently of their mood state. Anti-smoking interventions designed in accordance with these findings may be more effective.

Non-professional-help-seeking among young people with depression: a qualitative study

BackgroundAdolescents and young adults often suffer from depression, but tend to avoid seeking professional help. The aim of this study was to explore the reasons for non-professional-help-seeking in a sample of young adults resident in Catalonia with depressive symptoms through a qualitative study. In addition, the subjects were invited to offer their recommendations for making mental health care services more accessible.MethodsWe recruited 105 young persons (17–21 years of age) who had participated in a national survey on adolescents. The sample was divided into thirds, with 37 who had a previous diagnosis of depression, 33 who had self-perceived emotional distress, and 35 controls. The participants were interviewed in depth about their reasons for avoiding professional mental health care services, and the interview results were analyzed using both qualitative and cultural domain techniques and corroborated through comparison with the results of three focus groups.ResultsParticipants’ reasons for avoidance varied both by gender and according to prior experience with health services. Male study participants and female controls mainly understood depressive symptoms as normal and therefore not requiring treatment. Female participants with self-perceived distress were more likely to cite problems of access to treatment and fear of speaking to an unknown person about their problems. Females with a diagnosis expressed lack of trust in the benefits of treatment and fear of the social consequences of help-seeking. In their recommendations for best practices, the study participants suggested educational initiatives, as well as changes in the organization of mental health care services.ConclusionsA better understanding of the views of young people and a greater effort to involve them as active participants is important for facilitating help-seeking in this age group, and for adapting mental health care services to adolescent users and their social context.

The New Internal Colonialism

■ Anthropologys claims not only to special insight into systems of struc tural inequality, but a special mandate to expose and condemn them, become problematic in light of the disciplines studied inattention to the emergence of a large and growing underclass of underemployed and marginal professionals within its own ranks. Corporate outsourcing, downsizing and union-busting have analogues in the exploitative hiring practices of the academy, where they are mystified by appeals to departmental and institutional loyalty, and the need to maintain course coverage and student enrollment figures. There is evidence that serious attempts to bring this issue to the attention of the discipline at large are unwelcome; two cases, one involving the author, are described and analyzed. It is argued that a professional ethics worthy of the name cannot be limited to the study and representation of ethnographic Others, but must be conceptualized broadly enough to encompass our dealings with our colleagues.

Consumo diario de tabaco en la adolescencia. estados de ánimo negativos y rol de la comunicación familiar

OBJECTIVE To determine whether negative mood states constitute a risk factor for daily smoking during adolescence, and to specify the role of familial factors in the association between the two variables. METHODS Cross-sectional study of a representative sample (second wave, Panel of Families and Childhood) of Catalan adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age. Six logistic regression models were used for girls (n = 1,442) and six for boys (n =1,100) in order to determine whether negative mood states constitute a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption, and to what extent this effect is attributable to familial factors. RESULTS The prevalence of daily smoking at ages 17-18 is 3.8% for girls and 3.6 for boys. Feelings of sadness constitute a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption (odds ratio [OR] = 1.633), and communication with the father cancels out this effect. Parental pressure is a risk factor for daily smoking in both sexes (girls, OR = 2.064; boys, OR = 1.784). When parental communication is controlled for, this effect is reduced but not canceled out. Living in a reconstituted family is a risk factor for daily cigarette consumption among boys (OR = 2.988). CONCLUSIONS Intergenerational communication decreases the risk of daily tobacco use among adolescents independently of their mood state. Anti-smoking interventions designed in accordance with these findings may be more effective.