Anxiety in adolescence is characterised by disturbances in attentional processes and the overgeneralisation of fear, however, little is known about the combined and reciprocal effects of and between ...these factors on youth anxiety. The present study investigated whether attention (attention allocation and control) and fear generalisation processes together predict more variance on adolescent anxiety symptoms than each factor in isolation, and explored their interrelations.
197 adolescents completed a novel conditioning task, which paired balloon cues with mildly aversive or neutral outcomes. A spatial cueing task, and self-report measures of emotional attentional control and anxiety, were also completed.
Threat-avoidant attention allocation biases, impaired attention control, and exaggerated fear generalisation together predicted greater variance in anxiety symptoms (55.3%), than each set of fear and attention processes in isolation. Results also provided evidence of an interplay between these factors. Individual differences in threat-avoidant attention allocation biases predicted variability in the generalisation of fear, whilst the association between heightened anxiety and the overgeneralization of fear was moderated by poor attention control.
This study provides unique evidence of the combined effects of attention and fear generalisation mechanisms in explaining youth anxiety, and interrelations between these factors. Importantly, results suggested that deficiencies in attention control may bring out anxiety-associated impairments in fear generalisation.
We relied on self-reported ratings of fear during generalization and also of attention control. Thus demand effects cannot be discounted. Reaction-time measures of attention focus are also indirect assessments of attention that may lack precision.
•Anxiety in adolescents was characterised by biases in attention.•Anxiety in adolescents was characterised by over-generalisation of fear.•Biases in attention and fear generalisation inter-related with each other.
Objectives To establish the attitudes of glaucoma specialists to the frequency of visual field (VF) testing in the UK, using the NICE recommendations as a standard for ideal practice. Design ...Interview and postal survey. Setting UK and Eire Glaucoma Society national meeting 2011 in Manchester, UK, with a second round of surveys administered by post. Participants All consultant glaucoma specialists in England and Wales were invited to complete the survey. Primary and secondary outcome measures (1) Compliance of assigned follow-up VF intervals with NICE guidelines for three hypothetical patient scenarios, with satisfactory treated intraocular pressure and (a) no evidence of VF progression; (b) evidence of VF progression and (c) uncertainty about VF progression, and respondents were asked to provide typical follow-up intervals representative of their practice; (2) attitudes to research recommendations for six VF in the first 2 years for newly diagnosed patients with glaucoma. Results 70 glaucoma specialists completed the survey. For each of the clinical scenarios a, b and c, 14 (20%), 33 (47%) and 28 (40%) responses, respectively, fell outside the follow-up interval recommended by NICE. Nearly half of the specialists (46%) agreed that 6 VF tests in the first 2 years was ideal practice, while 16 (28%) said this was practice ‘not possible’, with many giving resources within the NHS setting as a limiting factor. Conclusions The results from this survey suggest that there is a large variation in attitudes to follow-up intervals for patients with glaucoma in the UK, with assigned intervals for VF testing which are, in many cases, inconsistent with the guidelines from NICE.
Violence against children (VAC) is a violation of child rights, has high prevalence in low- and middle-income countries, is associated with long-term negative effects on child functioning, and with ...high economic and social costs. Ending VAC at home and at school is thus a global public health priority.
In Jamaica, we evaluated an early childhood, teacher-training, violence-prevention programme, (the Irie Classroom Toolbox), in a cluster-randomised trial in 76 preschools. The programme led to large reductions to teachers' use of VAC, although the majority of teachers continued to use VAC at times. In this paper, we describe a mixed-method evaluation of the Irie Classroom Toolbox in the 38 Jamaican preschools that were assigned to the wait-list control group of the trial. In a quantitative evaluation, 108 preschool teachers in 38 preschools were evaluated at pre-test and 91 teachers from 37 preschools were evaluated at post-test. One preschool teacher from each of these 37 preschools were randomly selected to participate in an in-depth interview as part of the qualitative evaluation.
Preschool teachers were observed to use 83% fewer instances of VAC across one school day after participating in the programme, although 68% were observed to use VAC at least once across two days. The qualitative evaluation confirmed these findings with all teachers reporting reduced use of violence, but 70% reporting continued use of VAC at times. Teachers reported that the behaviour change techniques used to deliver the intervention increased their motivation, knowledge and skills which in turn led to improved child behaviour, improved relationships and improved professional well-being. Direct pathways to reduced use of VAC by teachers were through improved child behaviour and teacher well-being. The main reasons for continued use of VAC were due to barriers teachers faced using positive discipline techniques, teachers' negative affect, and child behaviours that teachers perceived to be severe.
We describe how we used the results from the mixed-method evaluation to inform revisions to the programme to further reduce teachers' use of VAC and to inform the processes of training, supervision and ongoing monitoring as the programme is scaled-up through government services.
This paper combines evidence from the analyses of large sets of newspaper material and long-term rainfall records to gain insights into representations of drought events in the United Kingdom, ...between 1800 and 2014. More specifically, we bring together two different, though complementary, approaches to trace longitudinal patterns in the ways drought events have been measured and perceived, focusing specifically on the duration, spatial extent, and intensity of each event. The power of the combined approach is demonstrated through three case studies (1911–1913, 1940–1945, and 1947–1949), in which we explore the available evidence in more detail and explore the impacts of the droughts upon the British population. Using corpus linguistics methods, we examined four sets of newspaper material: 1) the British Library 19th century newspaper corpus, 2)
The Times
20th century corpus (both i and ii with over five billion words), 3) 4,986 texts from British broadsheet papers (3.8 million words) and 4) 2,384 texts from tabloids (1.1 million words). An independent analysis of meteorological drought was undertaken using three sources: 1) the England and Wales Precipitation (EWP) series (back to 1800), 2) a statistically reconstructed version of the EWP which is more reliable in the early record (pre-1870), and 3) a high resolution gridded dataset (back to 1862) which is aggregated to NUTS1 regional scales. Meteorological droughts were assessed using the Standardised Precipitation Index, which allowed us to appraise drought intensity, severity and duration. We found an overwhelming agreement between the corpus data and meteorological records. For the very few cases of disparity between the corpus and rainfall data, there were in most cases plausible explanations. All in all, the present study demonstrates the power of the combined approach, presenting evidence on a scale that would not otherwise be possible, thus contributing to a better understanding of how drought is perceived, in addition to how it is traditionally “measured”.
Mental health problems affect 10–20% of children and adolescents worldwide. Despite their relevance as a leading cause of health-related disability in this age group and their longlasting effects ...throughout life, the mental health needs of children and adolescents are neglected, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. In this report we review the evidence and the gaps in the published work in terms of prevalence, risk and protective factors, and interventions to prevent and treat childhood and adolescent mental health problems. We also discuss barriers to, and approaches for, the implementation of such strategies in low-resource settings. Action is imperative to reduce the burden of mental health problems in future generations and to allow for the full development of vulnerable children and adolescents worldwide.
Background
The English NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme biennially invites individuals aged 60–74 to participate in screening. The booklet, ‘Bowel Cancer Screening: The Facts' accompanies this ...invitation. Its primary aim is to inform potential participants about the aims, advantages and disadvantages of colorectal cancer screening.
Objective
To provide detailed commentary on how individuals process the information contained within ‘The Facts’ booklet.
Design, setting and participants
This study comprised of 18 interviews with individuals aged 45–60 and used a ‘think‐aloud’ paradigm in which participants read aloud the booklet. Participant utterances (verbal statements made in response to researcher‐led prompts) were transcribed and analysed using a combination of content and thematic analysis.
Results
A total of 776 coded utterances were analysed (mean = 43.1 per person; range = 8–95). While overall comprehension was satisfactory, several problem areas were identified such as the use of complex unfamiliar terminology and the presentation of numerical information. Specific sections such as colonoscopy risk information evoked negative emotional responses. Participants made several suggestions for ways in which comprehension might be improved.
Conclusion
Public perceptions of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme information materials indicated that specific aspects of the booklet were difficult to process. These materials may be an appropriate target to improve public understanding of the aims, benefits and disadvantages of colorectal cancer screening. These findings will contribute to a broader NIHR‐funded project that aims to design a supplementary ‘gist‐based’ information leaflet suitable for low literacy populations.
Aim
This education‐focused study examined changes in nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards responding to opioid‐involved overdoses following participation in trainings delivered using ...remote learning modalities.
Design
This pre‐post study examined learning outcomes among 17 nursing students.
Methods
Participants completed the Opioid Overdose Attitude Scale and Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale to assess attitudes and knowledge, respectively. Trainings were delivered to two separate groups, one via virtual reality immersive video and another over video conferencing.
Results
Attitude scores increased by an average of 12.2 points and knowledge scores increased by 1.65 points. Within the virtual reality group, attitude scores increased by an average of 10 points, while no significant changes were observed in knowledge scores. The video conferencing group improved in both attitude and knowledge scores, by an average of 16.2 points and 2.1 points, respectively.
Conclusions
These hypothesis generating results illustrate the utility of remote learning approaches to deliver trainings, while maintaining social distance during the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic.
As part of a global health professional development class, the authors designed an educational activity for nursing students to write and perform 5-minute monologues based on interviews with ...individuals involved in global health. The goals of this educational activity included developing empathy, teaching qualitative research methods, and strengthening writing and presentation skills while encouraging students to engage with global health practitioners and real-world global health recipients.
Groups of four to five students used information from interviews with key informants working or receiving care in the global health context to develop monologues with the assistance of theatre professionals. Students presented the monologues at the end of the semester.
Student self-report and feedback from key informants indicated success in fulfilling the learning objectives.
The innovative use of a monologue-based theatre component in an academic course increased empathy in undergraduate nursing students. J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(11):653-656..
Early maltreatment increases lifetime risk of psychopathology. Emerging models suggest that exposure to maltreatment leads to changes in cognitive processes associated with the processing of threat, ...including processes of selective attention. Existing data may be interpreted to suggest that maltreatment is associated with an automatic attentional engagement with threatening cues, or that maltreatment is associated with generally poorer attention control. Using a pair of attention tasks, this study sought to examine whether maltreatment was associated with threat-related interference on attention processing and if this could be explained by poorer attentional control capacity.
Fifty-one maltreated adolescents from an out-of-home care sample in New South Wales, Australia were recruited to complete two attention tasks. Data from 24 of these participants were compared with that of a sample of non-maltreated peers matched on gender, age, cognitive ability, and household income to identify maltreatment-associated group differences. Data from all participants were then used to explore the degree to which attention variables correlated with continuous measures of internalising symptoms, subtypes, and severity of maltreatment.
On the first task, maltreated adolescents showed significant interference from an irrelevant but non-emotional distractor on reaction times when completing a central letter identification task under low perceptual task conditions. On the second task, maltreated adolescents also showed similar interference on a probe-identification task that involved ignoring threatening (angry face) distractors, again under low perceptual load.
These data may suggest difficulties exercising attention control following early maltreatment. These may contribute to the emergence of psychiatric disorders and other difficulties for those exposed to maltreatment.
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