Cumulative lifetime violence severity, social determinants and anxiety in a national sample of Canadian men

BACKGROUND

Despite anxiety disorders being the ninth leading cause of disability and associated with social inequities, little attention has been given to how intersections among social determinants of health and chronic stressors such as cumulative lifetime violence affect the likelihood of experiencing anxiety disorders. Our purpose was to explore the relationships among cumulative lifetime violence severity as target and perpetrator, social determinants of health and generalized anxiety disorder in Canadian men.

METHODS

Using a community sample of 592 Canadian men who self-identified as having experienced violence, we developed and tested an evidence-based model of generalized anxiety disorder including indicators of cumulative lifetime violence, gender, social location, socio-economic disparity, personal resources and other chronic stressors using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Most men (76.4%, n = 452) reported experiences as both target and perpetrator. The model accounted for 50.8% of the variance in anxiety severity χ2 (8) = 264.43, p = .000). The prevalence of probable generalized anxiety disorder was 30.9%, a rate higher than that found among Canadian men in general in the same period. Remarkably, the likelihood of generalized anxiety disorder increased by a factor of 5.30 for each increase of 1 in cumulative lifetime violence severity, and six-fold for feeling overwhelmed by demands of everyday life (aOR = 6.26). Masculine discrepancy stress, having been born in Canada, unemployment, and food insecurity also contributed significantly to increasing the likelihood of generalized anxiety disorder. Both social support and mastery had significant aORs < 1, suggesting possible protective effects. Together these findings delineate characteristics and social determinants that may heighten vulnerability to generalized anxiety disorder and influence its progression among men who have experienced lifetime violence.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are the first evidence that Canadian men with lifetime violence histories are a sub-group disproportionately affected by chronic stressors and socio-economic disparities and that together the presence and/or severity of these factors increases their vulnerability to generalized anxiety disorder. Our results highlight the importance of strengths-based trauma- and violence-informed approaches to care, including practical resources to reduce the stress of everyday life, improve social support, and reinforce personal control and choice.

An Attachment Perspective on Favorite Media Figures

Anxiously attached individuals tend to report stronger parasocial relationships with their favorite media figures than people with other attachment orientations. Researchers have suggested that these individuals may be inclined to see their favorite media figures as safe and secure attachment figures. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate this possibility by assessing the qualities of people’s favorite media figures, particularly within a television context. A sample of 200 online participants filled out an attachment measure, reported their favorite television figure, and rated several aspects of the television figure’s personality. It was expected that anxiously attached individuals would be drawn to figures that are high in warmth, emotional stability, and sensitivity. Instead, results showed that these individuals preferred figures with greater anxious and insecure characteristics. These results suggest that anxiously attached individuals may not see their favorite media figures as safe and secure attachment figures as previously theorized. Exploratory analyses failed to show significant effects for the second attachment dimension, attachment avoidance, or for the interaction between anxiety and avoidance.

Experiences of Clients in Three Types of Methadone Maintenance Therapy in an Atlantic Canadian City: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Methadone maintenance therapy remains the most common form of substitution therapy for opioid use disorder in Canada. Effectiveness of methadone maintenance therapy has been established, but recently newer treatment delivery models have emerged. Differences across these treatment models have not been examined.

PURPOSE

This descriptive qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to assess client experiences in three methadone maintenance therapy treatment delivery models: (a) comprehensive programs, (b) low-threshold/high-tolerance programs, and (c) fee-for-service programs.

METHODS

A total of 32 participants were recruited from methadone maintenance therapy clinics in an Atlantic Canadian city and grouped into three models of care (n_a = 9, n_b = 11, n_c = 12). Content analysis was performed on interview data to assess the frequency of relevant themes in the data.

RESULTS

Participants from all groups stressed the importance of supportive staff and having access to some form of counselling. However, low-threshold/high-tolerance and fee-for-service clients voiced a need for more formal counselling and programming at their clinics. Methadone was reported as the most helpful aspect of the methadone maintenance therapy programs; however, participants also expressed negative views about the substance.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings have important implications for the development and implementation of methadone maintenance therapy, specifically pertaining to further integration of addiction and mental health services.

Characteristics of the bimanual deficit using grip strength

Grip strength was used to evaluate bimanual functioning and the bimanual deficit as a measure of the relationship between the hands and the hemispheres. Participants were 174 right-handed individuals. Experiment 1 measured maximal, unimanual, and bimanual grips. There were two bimanual, simultaneous grip conditions: (1) symmetrical (hands perform the same grip) and (2) asymmetrical (different grips for each hand). Decrements were equivalent for preferred and nonpreferred hands and were similar for males and females. Experiment 2 consisted of three variations of the bimanual, asymmetrical grip condition used in Experiment 1. Emphasis was imposed on a single hand via a performance criterion and feedback. Results indicated that emphasis imposed on either hand produced a strength increment compared to that hand's baseline, but did not affect the concurrently performing hand. Results suggest that the bimanual coordination is governed at a non-lateralised or inter-hemispheric level for both males and females.

L'ÉCHELLE DE SOLITUDE SOCIALE ET ÉMOTIONNELLE (ÉSSÉ): A FRENCH-CANADIAN ADAPTATION OF THE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LONELINESS SCALE FOR ADULTS

Although there exist many psychological measures in the English language, few of these clinical and research instruments have been translated into French and subsequently validated. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate L'Échelle de Solitude Sociale et Émotionnelle (l'ÉSSÉ). L'ÉSSÉ is a French translation of the short form of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S; DiTommaso, Brannen, & Best, 2004; DiTommaso & Spinner, 1993). The SELSA is a multidimensional scale which measures the social and emotional components derived from Weiss' (1973) typology of loneliness. A total of 252 French-speaking individuals, aged between 17 and 79 years, completed the new measure. Reliability and validity assessment indicated that l'ÉSSÉ displays excellent psychometric properties.

THE UNIVERSALITY OF RELATIONSHIP CHARACTERISTICS: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ATTACHMENT AND LONELINESS IN CANADIAN AND VISITING CHINESE STUDENTS

This study investigated the universality of loneliness and attachment in family, romantic and social relationships by comparing Canadian home students with Chinese visiting students. A total of 223 students completed measures assessing peer, parent and romantic attachment, and emotional and social loneliness. The results indicate significant main effects of culture and gender for both attachment and loneliness, as well as a significant two-way interaction for family loneliness. The findings support the universality of loneliness and attachment, but also lend credence to the notion that the expression, or intensity, of these constructs may differ among cultures and genders.

Psychopathology in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorders

Thirty-nine children from intact families with a manic-depressive parent were evaluated by a semi-structured clinical interview and a number of rating scales for the presence or absence of psychopathology. This sample represents a larger one than in an earlier study, which showed minimal offspring psychopathology compared with reports of other investigators. The current study also examines the inter-relationships between the presence or absence of offspring psychopathology with both genetic loading and a number of psychosocial variables including measures of parental marital adjustment, severity and chronicity of proband parent illness and early exposure of children to parental illness. Nine of the thirty-nine children, (23%) received a positive DSM-III diagnosis, with depression of the dysthymic type being the most common. There was no significant correlation between genetic loading and offspring psychopathology. However, there were significant associations between children with psychopathology and paternal marital dissatisfaction and the age and chronicity of illness of the proband parent as compared with the children with no psychopathology.