Stress Gym: Feasibility of deploying a web-enhanced behavioral self-management program for stress in a military setting.

Stress and depression can adversely impact the performance of military personnel. Cognitive-behavioral (CBT) interventions for managing stress are efficacious in traditional face-to-face formats, but the Internet supports a broader reach of these programs. This study reports on the feasibility of using an Internet-based self-help stress-management intervention in military personnel. There were 142 officers/enlisted sailors at a Naval Medical Center who completed the program. Evaluation of the program titled "Stress Gym" was positive for the user interface, content, feasibility, and satisfaction. Positive evaluation was not influenced by rank/status, sex, or previous deployment. Stress ratings also decreased significantly while using the program. These data support Stress Gym as being an online CBT-based self-help intervention that is feasible to deploy, accepted by the intended end users, and demonstrates the intended goal of reducing stress.

A father marries his daughters: a case of incestuous polygamy.

Polygamy is a risk factor for incest. This case report of incest and polygamy portrays the dynamics that dominated this family's identity. The father indoctrinated and groomed his biological daughter and stepdaughter for sexual gratification in a cult-like atmosphere, and secretly married both of them. He justified his acts to the family members under the guise of religion, but he later denied allegations of polygamy and sexual contact with his daughters when confronted by the authorities. Ultimately, his parental rights were terminated in family court. The authors interviewed the primary victim and reviewed extensive evidence, including videotapes of the victims talking with detectives and also privately amongst each other. Videotape dialogue excerpts capture how these young girls individually coped with the sexual abuse and responded to becoming child wives in a polygamous family. Criminal charges ultimately were not pursued because the key witness refused to testify against her biological father.