The role of self-compassion in physical and psychological well-being.

The relation of self-compassion to physical and psychological well-being was investigated among 182 college students. The self-compassion scale was delineated into three composites, following the proposition by Neff that self-compassion consists of three main components: self-judgment versus self-kindness (SJ-SK), a sense of isolation versus common humanity (I-CH), and over-identification versus mindfulness (OI-M). Findings support the association between self-compassion and psychological and physical well-being, but the composites demonstrate different influences. SJ-SK and I-CH were predictive of both depressive symptomatology and physical well-being, and SJ-SK and OI-M were predictive of managing life stressors. The results of this study support and expand prior research on self-compassion.

Are math readiness and personality predictive of first-year retention in engineering?

On the basis of J. G. Borkowski, L. K. Chan, and N. Muthukrishna's model of academic success (2000), the present authors hypothesized that freshman retention in an engineering program would be related to not only basic aptitude but also affective factors. Participants were 129 college freshmen with engineering as their stated major. Aptitude was measured by SAT verbal and math scores, high school grade-point average (GPA), and an assessment of calculus readiness. Affective factors were assessed by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (FFI; P. I. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 2007), and the Nowicki-Duke Locus of Control (LOC) scale (S. Nowicki & M. Duke, 1974). A binary logistic regression analysis found that calculus readiness and high school GPA were predictive of retention. Scores on the Neuroticism and Openness subscales from the NEO-FFI and LOC were correlated with retention status, but Openness was the only affective factor with a significant unique effect in the binary logistic regression. Results of the study lend modest support to Borkowski's model.

Effects of a culturally sensitive education program on the breast cancer knowledge and beliefs of Hispanic women.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of a multifaceted, culturally sensitive, and linguistically appropriate breast cancer education program for Hispanic women. DESIGN: Experimental (post-test only, control-group design). SETTING: The parish hall of a Roman Catholic Church in northeastern Arkansas. SAMPLE: 31 Hispanic women aged 25-56 residing in northeastern Arkansas. METHODS: The experimental group received a multifaceted, culturally sensitive, and linguistically appropriate breast cancer education program; the control group received general nutritional information. Both groups completed the Breast Cancer Knowledge Test and Breast Cancer Screening Belief Scales so that the researchers could measure dependent variables. Data were analyzed with t tests. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Knowledge of and beliefs about breast cancer. FINDINGS: The experimental group scored significantly higher on the Breast Cancer Knowledge Test than did the control group. The control group scored significantly higher than the experimental group on the barriers to mammography scale and the benefits of breast self-examination scale of the Breast Cancer Screening Belief Scales. CONCLUSIONS: The multifaceted, culturally sensitive, and linguistically appropriate breast cancer education program appeared to be responsible for increased knowledge of breast cancer and reduced barriers to mammography. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Education may change Hispanic women's knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer. An intervention designed and implemented by nurses can play a significant role in meeting the strong need for culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate breast cancer educational programs for Hispanic women. Such programs should focus on helping Hispanic women understand their personal risks related to breast cancer and reduce barriers they perceive to early screening and detection.

Self-reported aggression and the perception of anger in facial expression photos.

The author's purpose in this study was to assess the relationship between self-reported aggression and "seeing" anger in others. Eighty-four undergraduate participants completed a self-report questionnaire about their own aggression (i.e., aggressive attitude, verbal aggression, and physical aggression), as well as measures of resiliency and locus of control. They also responded to a series of photographs depicting facial expressions of happy, sad, angry, and fearful emotions. The results indicated that individuals reporting higher levels of overall aggression also misidentified anger from the facial expressions when this was not the emotion presented (errors of commission). No significant differences appeared among individuals reporting high and low levels of aggression in terms of underreporting anger (errors of omission). The author also found significant correlations among identification of anger from photographs, resiliency, and locus of control. The findings of the study have important implications for understanding the relationship between aggression and one's perception of anger in others.

Teaching breast cancer screening to African American women in the Arkansas Mississippi river delta.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of a multifaceted, culturally sensitive breast cancer education program for African American women in the Arkansas Mississippi River Delta. DESIGN: Experimental (i.e., posttest only, control group design). SETTING: African American churches and a county Extension Homemakers Club sponsored through the Arkansas Extension Homemakers council. SAMPLE: 53 African American women. The experimental group included 30 participants who had a mean age of 56 years, and the control group consisted of 23 participants with a mean age of 51 years. METHODS: After the presentation of a multifaceted, culturally sensitive breast cancer education program, a variety of instruments were administered to participants in the experimental group that measured dependent variables. Subjects in the control group completed the same instruments in the absence of a viable intervention. Data were analyzed using t tests. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer. FINDINGS: The experimental group's mean scores were significantly higher than the control group's on the Breast Cancer Knowledge Test and the susceptibility scale of the Breast Cancer Screening Belief Scales. The experimental group also scored significantly higher than the control group on the confidence scale of the Breast Cancer Screening Belief Scales. CONCLUSIONS: The multifaceted, culturally sensitive breast cancer education program appeared to be responsible for the differences in scores between the experimental and control groups. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Culturally sensitive group educational programs aimed at helping African American women in the rural South become more knowledgeable about breast cancer and early detection clearly are needed. Such efforts also must focus on increasing women's confidence in effectively performing regular breast self-examination as well as their understanding of personal risk. Healthcare professionals play a major role in the development and implementation of these programs.

Traumatic symptomatology characteristics of adult children of alcoholics.

Traumatic experience symptomatology, resiliency factors, and stress among young adults who had experienced alcoholism within their family of origin were assessed in comparison to adults who as children experienced traumatic life events other than alcoholism and those who indicated neither problem (parental alcoholism or traumatic life event) during their childhood. These three groups were compared on self-report measures of stress, resiliency, depressive symptomatology, and trauma symptoms. Results indicated adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) had more self-reported stress, more difficulty initiating the use of mediating factors in response to life events, and more symptoms of personal dysfunction than the control group. Results suggest ACOAs may develop less effective stress management strategies and present more clinically at-risk patterns of responses than their counterparts.

Protein oxidation and heme oxygenase-1 induction in porcine white matter following intracerebral infusions of whole blood or plasma.

Spontaneous or traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the white matter of neonates, children and adults causes significant mortality and morbidity. The detailed biochemical mechanisms through which blood damages white matter are poorly defined. Presently, we tested the hypothesis that ICH induces rapid oxidative stress in white matter. Also, since clot-derived plasma proteins accumulate in white matter after ICH and these proteins can induce oxidative stress in microglia in vitro, we determined whether the blood's plasma component alone induces oxidative stress. Lastly, since heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction is highly sensitive to oxidative stress, we also examined white matter HO-1 gene expression. We infused either whole blood or plasma (2.5 ml) into the frontal hemispheric white matter of pentobarbital-anesthetized pigs ( approximately 1 kg) over 15 min. We monitored and controlled physiologic variables and froze brains in situ between 1 and 24 h after ICH. White matter oxidative stress was determined by measuring protein carbonyl formation and HO-1 gene expression by RT-PCR. Protein carbonyl formation occurred rapidly in the white matter adjacent to both blood and plasma clots with significant elevations (3- to 4-fold) already 1 h after infusion. This increase remained through the first 24 h. HO-1 mRNA was rapidly induced in white matter with either whole blood or plasma infusions. These results demonstrate that not only whole blood but also its plasma component are capable of rapidly inducing oxidative stress in white matter. This rapid response, possibly in microglial cells, may contribute to white matter damage not only following ICH, but also in pathophysiological states in which blood-brain-barrier permeability to plasma proteins is increased.