Black-White Differences in the Reciprocal Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress.

We formulate a MIDUS longitudinal data-based multi-population LISREL model to gauge variation among Black and White Americans in the reciprocal relationship across time between perceived major and everyday discrimination, and psychological distress. Two hypotheses building on prior theory and empirical findings are generated: reciprocity between perceived discrimination and distress, and stronger reciprocity among Blacks. Here, "reciprocity" denotes positive effects of perceived discrimination and mental health problems such as distress on each other across time. Both hypotheses are supported for relationships between perceived everyday discrimination and distress. The model controls for several potentially relevant variables.

The Trajectory of Subjective Well-Being: A Partial Explanation of the Marriage Advantage.

Although several studies have documented a distinct marriage advantage in well-being, it is still unclear what it is about marriage that renders this benefit. We hypothesize that it is due to factors theorized to accrue to matrimony, such as elevated financial status and specific social psychological supports. We examine the trajectory of subjective well-being for 1,135 respondents from the three-wave 2010 GSS panel survey utilizing linear mixed-effects modeling. We find that about two-fifths of the marriage advantage in subjective well-being is accounted for by a mixture of control variables, finances, and emotional factors, with most of this due to elements that are associated with the marital context. Higher annual income, enhanced interpersonal trust, greater sociability, and less of a sense of loneliness and isolation appear to be responsible for a substantial component of the marital advantage. We further find that the marriage advantage is invariant to both race and gender.

Case Report: Traumatic Tension Pneumothorax in a Pediatric Patient.

This case demonstrates the importance of quickly identifying a pediatric patient in acute respiratory distress secondary to pneumothorax and highlights the emergent management of these patients. The 16-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department (ED) with a chief complaint of right-sided rib pain and shortness of breath that began acutely after an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident. The patient was in respiratory distress upon presentation and had diminished right-sided breath sounds. A portable chest X-ray demonstrated pneumothorax with significant mediastinal leftward shift. Needle decompression of the right chest wall was performed and right sided thoracostomy was placed. It is important to maintain a high index of suspicion for tension pneumothorax in pediatric trauma patients with respiratory distress, even when hemodynamically stable. This case report discusses proper management of traumatic tension pneumothorax and discusses current recommendations for needle decompression and thoracostomy. Topics: Tension pneumothorax, pediatrics, respiratory distress, portable chest x-ray, ultrasound.

Effects of Religiosity Dimensions on Physical Health across Non-elderly Black and White American Panels.

This investigation-based on a three-wave national panel of Black and White Americans aged 64 or younger at wave one-gauges variation across races in the indirect, moderating, and direct effects of public and subjective religiosity on a latent physical health outcome comprising chronic illnesses, subjective health, and functional limitations. The multi-population LISREL model specifically addresses the mechanisms through which religiosity is typically presumed to indirectly foster health: enhancement of social support and self-appraisals, and suppression of stress-exposure and unhealthy habits. The extent to which religiosity buffers or exacerbates the impact of specific stressors is also examined. The impact of religiosity on health appears to hinge on race and religiosity dimension: Public religiosity indirectly enhances Blacks' health slightly, and apparently buffers any negative impact of financial strain on their health. Public religiosity does not influence Whites' health; and subjective religiosity does not influence health in either race. The models control for multiple socio-demographic factors.

Enhanced Religiosity Following Illness? Assessing Evidence of Religious Consolation Among Black and White Americans.

This study assesses variation among Black and White Americans in the impact of ill-health on public and subjective religiosity. It is the first longitudinal assessment of race-based variation in "religious consolation." The under-explored consolation thesis anticipates ill-health influencing religiosity rather than the reverse, with religiosity functioning as a coping resource marshaled by the ill. Effects across races of physical ill-health indicators (chronic illnesses and impaired functioning) on religiosity outcomes are the main focus; but across-race variation in psychological distress-induced "consolation" is also assessed. Findings yield only limited evidence of consolation in each race, and restricted variation across races: Change in impaired functioning slightly enhances Whites' subjective religiosity; but that effect does not significantly eclipse the impact among Blacks. There is no evidence of physical illness-induced consolation among Blacks; and the proposition that Blacks are more inclined toward consolation than Whites is affirmed only for psychological distress. There are no signs in either race that consolation is intensified by aging or higher religiosity, and no significant across-race differentials in effects of these illness-age and illness-religiosity interactions on subsequent religiosity. The multi-population model utilizes Americans' Changing Lives data.

Black-White variations in the lagged reciprocal relationship between religiosity and perceived control.

This national longitudinal data-based multi-population LISREL study, the most comprehensive assessment to date of racial variations in the (in)congruity between religiosity and perceived control, gauges variation among Black and White Americans in the lagged reciprocal relationship between religiosity dimensions and mastery. Racial variation in the reciprocal religiosity-perceived control relationship has hitherto gone un-addressed. Prior investigations have also typically utilised cross-sectional samples - often from regional or age-specific populations. The observed public religiosity-mastery relationship over time exhibits signs of mutual reinforcement among Blacks: public religiosity enhances Blacks' subsequent mastery, while prior mastery borderline-significantly enhances their public religiosity. The subjective religiosity-mastery relationship among Whites evinces a marginally countervailing pattern: Subjective religiosity diminishes Whites' mastery, while mastery borderline-significantly enhances their subjective religiosity. The inordinately positive public religiosity-effect on Blacks' mastery notably constitutes solid support for the "resource compensation" perspective on the impact of religiosity on mastery across dominant and subordinate groups.

Racial Differences in Effects of Religiosity and Mastery on Psychological Distress: Evidence from National Longitudinal Data.

This research engages nationally representative longitudinal data and a multipopulation LISREL model to investigate variation among black and white Americans in the impact of religiosity and mastery on psychological distress. Guided by the stress and coping perspective and prominent theorizing about how religiosity influences mental health, the model assesses not only direct effects of religiosity and mastery on distress but also the possibility of religiosity and mastery inhibiting distress indirectly (via effects on other coping resources or stressors) and attenuating the distress-inducing properties of individual stressors. Findings solidly support the endorsed proposition of religiosity's being particularly beneficial to blacks' emotional well-being and moderately support the prediction of mastery's being primarily helpful to whites'. Public religiosity substantially eclipses private and subjective religiosity as a facilitator of blacks' emotional well-being, and although main effects dominate, there are significant mediation and moderation effects of religiosity or mastery within each race.

A comparison of National Emergency Department use by homeless versus non-homeless people in the United States.

BACKGROUND: A single-site study described differences between homeless and non-homeless patient utilization of the emergency department (ED). No prior study has examined ED use by the homeless on a national level. OBJECTIVE: To analyze national ED utilization by homeless patients. METHODS: Data were extracted from the 2005 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. SAS callable SUDAAN was used to produce national estimates. Results. Of the 115 million visits to national EDs in 2005, 472,922 were made by homeless patients. In comparison with the non-homeless, these patients were more likely to arrive by ambulance and to be uninsured. Both groups had similar admission rates and triage urgency, with a trend toward increased diagnostic testing for homeless patients. CONCLUSION: Homeless patients who visited EDs in 2005 were more likely to arrive by ambulance despite similar triage urgency and admission rates compared with the non-homeless, and were less likely to be insured.