Fluorescent biological aerosol particles: Concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a northern California residence.

Residences represent an important site for bioaerosol exposure. We studied bioaerosol concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a single-family residence in northern California with 2 occupants using real-time instrumentation during 2 monitoring campaigns (8 weeks during August-October 2016 and 5 weeks during January-March 2017). Time- and size-resolved fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAP) and total airborne particles were measured in real time in the kitchen using an ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer (UVAPS). Time-resolved occupancy status, household activity data, air-change rates, and spatial distribution of size-resolved particles were also determined throughout the house. Occupant activities strongly influenced indoor FBAP levels. Indoor FBAP concentrations were an order of magnitude higher when the house was occupied than when the house was vacant. Applying an integral material-balance approach, geometric mean of total FBAP emissions from human activities observed to perturb indoor levels were in the range of 10-50 million particles per event. During the summer and winter campaigns, occupants spent an average of 10 and 8.5 hours per day, respectively, awake and at home. During these hours, the geometric mean daily-averaged FBAP exposure concentration (1-10 µm diameter) was similar for each subject at 40 particles/L for summer and 29 particles/L for winter.

Coping with technological disaster: an application of the conservation of resources model to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

One hundred twenty-five commercial fishers in Cordova, Alaska, completed a mailed survey regarding current mental health functioning 6 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Economic and social impacts of the oil spill and coping and psychological functioning (modified Coping Strategies Scales, Symptom Checklist 90-R) were measured. Multiple regression was used to test the utility of the Conservation of Resources stress model for explaining observed psychological symptoms. Current symptoms of depression, anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder were associated with conditions resource loss and avoidant coping strategies. The Conservation of Resources model provided a framework for explaining psychological impacts of the oil spill. Future research is needed to identify factors related to recovery.

From child victim to adult victim: a model for predicting sexual revictimization.

Women with histories of child sexual abuse (N = 221) participated in a study designed to test a model for predicting adult/adolescent sexual revictimization and post-assault functioning. Participants completed anonymous questionnaires regarding their sexual victimization history, post-sexual assault symptoms and attributions, and consensual sexual behavior. Repeated victimization was defined as having experienced child sexual abuse and a separate incident of adolescent/adult victimization. Repeated victimization was associated with having experienced child sexual abuse involving physical contact, including intercourse and/or penetration. Women with repeated victimization engaged in more self-blame, reported higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms, and reported more high-risk sexual behavior. A path model was developed that indicated that the relationship between revictimization and child sexual abuse was mediated by self-blame, post-traumatic symptoms, and consensual sexual activity. The results suggest the need for further research on revictimization as well as suggesting areas for intervention to prevent sexual revictimization.

Coping appraisals and adjustment to nonstranger sexual assault.

PIP: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between appraisals of blame, coping strategies, and current symptomatology among 299 female victims of non-stranger sexual assault. Data were collected through a revised version of the Sexual Experiences Survey, the Coping Strategies Scales, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and an attributional questionnaire designed by Meyer and Taylor (1986). This study found out that attribution of blame and the coping variable affect functioning depending on the level of victimization. Women who were currently symptomatic were significantly more likely to engage in characterological and self-blame and were more likely to use coping strategies such as emotional expressiveness, social support seeking, and cognitive restructuring. Differences were found among the different levels of victimization for attributions of blame, but not for types of coping. Victims of rape, either forced or coerced, are more likely to blame themselves than those who were victims of molestation or non-coital sexual assaults. Lastly, there was no evidence of differential use of coping strategies depending on the victimization status.^ieng

Concurrent validity of a Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder scale for women within the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised.

Using a structured interview to obtain a lifetime history of criminal victimization, a community sample of 266 adult women who had experienced at least one incident of victimization was identified. These women were administered the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Impact of Event Scale, and a structured clinical interview was used to identify Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CR-PTSD). A recently derived scale based on responses to items on the SCL-90-R was compared to the IES for predicting current diagnosis of Crime-Related PostTraumatic Disorder. Both the scale and the IES were found to improve prediction of CR-PTSD above base rates and to perform in a similar manner. The utility of each of these scales as a screening measure is discussed.