culture and human development

As a significant supplier of labour migrants, Southeast Asia presents itself as an important site for the study of children in transnational families who are growing up separated from at least one migrant parent and sometimes cared for by 'other mothers'. Through the often-neglected voices of left-behind children, we investigate the impact of parental migration and the resulting reconfiguration of care arrangements on the subjective well-being of migrants' children in two Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia and the Philippines...

Recent research has implicated inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of a wide range of chronic degenerative diseases, although inflammation has long been recognized as a critical line of defense against infectious disease. However, current scientific understandings of the links between chronic low-grade inflammation and diseases of aging are based primarily on research in high-income nations with low levels of infectious disease and high levels of overweight/obesity. From a comparative and historical point of view, this epidemiological situation is relatively unique, and it may not capture the full range of ecological variation necessary to understand the processes that shape the development of inflammatory phenotypes...

BACKGROUND: Fast weight gain and linear growth in children in low-income and middle-income countries are associated with enhanced survival and improved cognitive development, but might increase risk of obesity and related adult cardiometabolic diseases. We investigated how linear growth and relative weight gain during infancy and childhood are related to health and human capital outcomes in young adults. METHODS: We used data from five prospective birth cohort studies from Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa...

BACKGROUND: There are many societal and cultural differences between healthcare systems and the use of genetic testing in the US and France. These differences may affect the diagnostic process for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in each country and influence parental opinions regarding the use of genetic screening tools for ASD. METHODS: Using an internet-based tool, a survey of parents with at least one child with ASD was conducted. A total of 162 participants from the US completed an English version of the survey and 469 participants from France completed a French version of the survey...

Past research has demonstrated the negative impact of perceived ethnic discrimination (PED) on psychological well-being among children. Given research demonstrating the benefits of cross-ethnic friendship for children's intergroup attitudes, we examined whether cross-ethnic friendships would attenuate the effects of PED on well-being and resilience within a multi-ethnic context. Two hundred and forty-seven South Asian British children (M = 11 years) recruited from 37 classrooms completed measures of perceived cross-ethnic friendship quantity and quality, PED, psychological well-being, and resilience...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In this study, we examine the similarities and the differences between obsessions and the phenomena described in religious language as "blasphemous thoughts". The basis of our study is an ascetic text of the 7th century AD, entitled "The Ladder of Divine Ascent", written by Saint John Climacus (ca. 579-649), abbot of St. Catherine Monastery, Sinai. The book is considered to be one of the fundamental sources of monastic literature, which has influenced Christian anthropology. Research on the "Ladder" gives an insight in where the religious and the psychiatric pathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches converge or diverge...

This study examined the mediating role of ego defense mechanisms on the relationship between attachment styles and alexithymia. Four hundred and forty-three Iranian high school students (213 boys, 230 girls) participated in this study. Participants completed Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ-40), Adult Attachment Inventory (AAI), and Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (FTAS-20). Results showed a significant negative correlation between secure attachment style and alexithymia, while avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles showed significant positive associations with alexithymia...

OBJECTIVE: We attempt to present and analyze suicidal behaviour in the ancient Greek and Roman world. METHODS: Drawing information from ancient Greek and Latin sources (History, Philosophy, Medicine, Literature, Visual Arts) we aim to point out psychological and social aspects of suicidal behaviour in antiquity. RESULTS: The shocking exposition of suicides reveals the zeitgeist of each era and illustrates the prevailing concepts. Social and legal reactions appear ambivalent, as they can oscillate from acceptance and interpretation of the act to punishment...

This article discusses major themes in recent transcultural psychiatric research in the Nordic countries from 2008 to 2011: (a) epidemiological studies of migration, (b) indigenous populations, and (c) quality of psychiatric care for migrants. Over the past several decades, the populations of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which were relatively homogeneous, have become increasingly culturally diverse. Many migrants to Nordic countries have been exposed to extreme stress, such as threats of death and/or torture and other severe social adversities before, during, and after migration, with potential effects on their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health...

BACKGROUND: Severe childhood illnesses present a major public health challenge for Africa, which is aggravated by a suboptimal response to the child's health problems with reference to the health-seeking behaviour of the parents or guardians. We examined the health-seeking behaviour of parents at the Kenyan coast because understanding impediments to optimal health-seeking behaviour could greatly contribute to reducing the impact of severe illness on children's growth and development. METHODS AND RESULTS: Health-seeking behaviour, and the factors influencing this behaviour, were examined in two traditional communities...

Norway has an extensive welfare system which may provide adolescents with many options and high levels of flexibility in terms of pathways to adulthood. This study aimed to describe Norwegian developmental pathways to adulthood, including changes in role statuses (such as living situations, education, work, marriage/cohabitation and parenthood) from 16 to 30 years of age, and their precursors and outcomes. Repeated measures latent class analysis of longitudinal data from 998 Norwegian individuals indicated three main pathways to adulthood among women and men...

The integration of the visual and auditory modalities during human speech perception is the default mode of speech processing. That is, visual speech perception is not a capacity that is "piggybacked" on to auditory-only speech perception. Visual information from the mouth and other parts of the face is used by all perceivers to enhance auditory speech. This integration is ubiquitous and automatic and is similar across all individuals across all cultures. The two modalities seem to be integrated even at the earliest stages of human cognitive development...

BACKGROUND: Narcolepsy is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and abnormal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF α) and its cognate receptors have been reported to be involved in the pathophysiology of narcolepsy in addition to the HLA antigen system. Our study aimed to determine if the TNF-α system was associated with narcolepsy in our patients. METHODS: We first measured the plasma level of TNF α in 56 narcoleptic patients and 53 control subjects using a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay...

In this article, we review recent research on mental health in the Caribbean. Three major themes emerge: (a) the effects of colonialism on the Caribbean psyche; (b) decolonization of psychiatric public policy, including innovative treatment approaches, deinstitutionalization, and community and policy responses to mental health issues; and (c) the nature and epidemiology of psychiatric pathology among contemporary Caribbean people, with particular focus on migration, genetic versus social causation of psychosis and personality disorders, and mechanisms of resilience and social capital...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: We examined how two indicators of partner involvement, relationship type and paternal support, influenced the risk of pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight) and health behaviors (prenatal care, drug use, and smoking) among African American women. METHODS: Interview and medical record data were obtained from a study of 713 adult African American women delivering singletons between March 2001 and July 2004. Women were enrolled prenatally if they received care at one of three Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI) prenatal clinics or post-partum if they delivered at JHMI with late, no or intermittent prenatal care...

This paper brings forth the voices of adult Aboriginal First Nations community members who gathered in focus groups to discuss the problem of youth suicide on their reserves. Our approach emphasizes multilevel (e.g., individual, family, and broader ecological systems) factors viewed by participants as relevant to youth suicide. Wheaton's conceptualization of stressors and Evans-Campbell's multilevel classification of the impacts of historical trauma are used as theoretical and analytic guides. Thematic analysis of qualitative data transcripts revealed a highly complex intersection of stressors, traumas, and social problems seen by community members as underlying mechanisms influencing heightened levels of Aboriginal youth suicidality...

In its most general instrumental sense, parenting consists of care of the young in preparing them to manage the tasks of life. Parents provide childhood experiences and populate the environments that guide children's development and so contribute to child mental health. Parenting is expressed in cognitions and practices. However, parents do not parent, and children do not grow up, in isolation, but in multiple contexts, and one notable context of parenting and child mental health is culture. Every culture is characterized, and distinguished from other cultures, by deep-rooted and widely acknowledged ideas about how one needs to feel, think, and act as an adequately functioning member of the culture...