Cortney S. Warren: Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award.

Provides the biography of Cortney S. Warren and announces that she has received the APA Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award (2004) for an outstanding research paper whose findings examine the potential for ethnicity to protect against body image disturbance by moderating the relationships between awareness and internalization of a thin physical ideal and body dissatisfaction. A selected bibliography is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnicity, culture, and sexual aggression: Risk and protective factors.

Explanatory models of sexual aggression were examined among mainland Asian American (n = 222), Hawaiian Asian American (n = 127), and European American men (n = 399). The Malamuth et al. (N. M. Malamuth, D. Linz, C. L. Heavey, G. Barnes, & M. Acker, 1995; N. M. Malamuth, R. J. Sockloskie, M. P. Koss, & J. S. Tanaka, 1991) confluence model of sexual aggression, which posits impersonal sex and hostile masculinity as paths to sexual aggression, was consistently supported. Culture-specific moderators of sexual aggression were also identified. Whereas loss of face was a protective factor against sexual aggression in the Asian American samples, it generally was not a protective factor among European Americans. These findings are not a function of actual or perceived minority status. An implication is that theoretical models may need to be augmented with cultural constructs for optimal application in certain ethnic group contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial and health consequences of adolescent depression in Black and White young adult women.

Depression in adolescent girls may result in negative consequences in young adulthood. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to 1,727 Black and White girls ages 16 to 18 years who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study. Three years later, women in the depressed groups were more likely to be current smokers, had attained a lower level of education, and reported lower self-worth relative to the nondepressed group. Body dissatisfaction, eating concerns, and loneliness were greater in the depressed groups. Relative to Black women, White women who were moderately depressed during adolescence reported more health care services utilization in young adulthood. Prevention efforts for depressed adolescents should be broadly focused to improve young adult outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnicity, Expressed Emotion, Attributions, and Course of Schizophrenia: Family Warmth Matters.

The authors examined the role of family factors and the course of schizophrenia by carrying out additional assessments and analyses in 2 previously published studies of Mexican American and Anglo American patients and families. The authors found partial support for an attributional model of relapse for families who are low in emotional overinvolvement. Attributions of control, criticism, and warmth together marginally predicted relapse. The data also indicated that for Mexican Americans, family warmth is a significant protective factor, whereas for Anglo Americans, family criticism is a significant risk factor. These findings suggest that the sociocultural context shapes the pathways by which family processes are related to the course of illness. Moreover, the warmth findings suggest that families may contribute to preventing relapse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Importance of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 4 (GRK4) in Pathogenesis of Salt Sensitivity,Salt Sensitive Hypertension and Response to Antihypertensive Treatment

Salt sensitivity is probably caused by either a hereditary or acquired defect of salt excretion by the kidney, and it is reasonable to consider that this is the basis for differences in hypertension between black and white people. Dopamine acts in an autocrine/paracrine fashion to promote natriuresis in the proximal tubule and thick ascending loop of Henle. G-protein receptor kinases (or GRKs) are serine and threonine kinases that phosphorylate G protein-coupled receptors in response to agonist stimulation and uncouple the dopamine receptor from its G protein. This results in a desensitisation process that protects the cell from repeated agonist exposure. GRK4 activity is increased in spontaneously hypertensive rats, and infusion of GRK4 antisense oligonucleotides attenuates the increase in blood pressure (BP). This functional defect is replicated in the proximal tubule by expression of GRK4 variants namely p.Arg65Leu, p.Ala142Val and p.Val486Ala, in cell lines, with the p.Ala142Val showing the most activity. In humans, GRK4 polymorphisms were shown to be associated with essential hypertension in Australia, BP regulation in young adults, low renin hypertension in Japan and impaired stress-induced Na excretion in normotensive black men. In South Africa, GRK4 polymorphisms are more common in people of African descent, associated with impaired Na excretion in normotensive African people, and predict blood pressure response to Na restriction in African patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. The therapeutic importance of the GRK4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was emphasised in the African American Study of Kidney Disease (AASK) where African-Americans with hypertensive nephrosclerosis were randomised to receive amlodipine, ramipril or metoprolol. Men with the p.Ala142Val genotype were less likely to respond to metoprolol, especially if they also had the p.Arg65Leu variant. Furthermore, in the analysis of response to treatment in two major hypertension studies, the 65Leu/142Val heterozygote predicted a significantly decreased response to atenolol treatment, and the 65Leu/142Val heterozygote and 486Val homozygote were associated in an additive fashion with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, independent of BP. In conclusion, there is considerable evidence that GRK4 variants are linked to impaired Na excretion, hypertension in animal models and humans, therapeutic response to dietary Na restriction and response to antihypertensive drugs. It may also underlie the difference in hypertension between different geographically derived population groups, and form a basis for pharmacogenomic approaches to treatment of hypertension.     

A framework for joint estimation of age,gender and ethnicity on a large database

Human age, gender and ethnicity are valuable demographic characteristics. They are also important soft biometric traits useful for human identification or verification. We present a framework that can estimate the three traits jointly. The joint estimation framework could deal with the mutual influence of age, gender, and ethnicity implicitly. Under this joint estimation framework, we explore different methods for simultaneous estimation of age, gender, and ethnicity. The canonical correlation analysis (CCA) based methods, and partial least squares (PLS) models are explored under our joint estimation framework. Both the linear and nonlinear methods are investigated to measure the performance. We also validate some extensions of these methods, such as the least squares formulations of the CCA methods. We found some consistent ranking of these methods under our joint estimation framework. More importantly, we found that the CCA based methods can derive an extremely low dimensionality in estimating age, gender and ethnicity. An analysis of this property is given based on the rank theory. The experiments are conducted on a very large database containing more than 55,000 face images.     

Distributing prejudice unequally: Do Whites direct their prejudice toward strongly identified minorities?

Across 6 studies, Whites expressed more negative attitudes toward strongly identified racial minorities than toward weakly identified minorities. Whites who personally endorsed worldviews that legitimize the status hierarchy were particularly likely to express negative attitudes toward strongly identified minorities relative to weakly identified minorities, whereas Whites who personally rejected status-legitimizing worldviews displayed the opposite pattern. In addition, Whites' biases against strongly identified minorities dissipated when strongly identified minorities expressed strong endorsement of status-legitimizing worldviews. These studies suggest that Whites do not distribute their prejudicial attitudes equally among all members of minority groups and that some subsets of minorities (the strongly identified) might bear the brunt of racial prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The irony of cultural psychology research.

Responds to R. E. Erard's comments (see record 2009-13007-011) on the current authors' original article (see record 2008-12151-002) which reviewed a number of studies that identified cultural differences in the use and effect of different types of social support among Asians and Asian Americans and European Americans. Essentially, in his comment, Erard denied the validity of research examining cultural differences. The authors strongly believe that the issues concerning within-culture variation do not nullify the importance of conducting research on culturally based psychological and behavioral patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Future directions in studies of trauma among ethnoracial and sexual minority samples: Commentary.

Objective: Studies examining psychological trauma or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in ethnoracial or sexual minority groups are relatively few. The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology recently published 4 articles (Balsam, Lehavot, Beadnall, & Circo, 2010; Harrington, Crowther, & Shipherd, 2010; Lester, Resick, Young-Xu, & Artz, 2010; Marshall, Schell, & Miles, 2009) that examine trauma exposure and posttraumatic outcomes in ethnoracial and sexual minority samples. This commentary focuses on the overlap between traumatic stress and diversity studies in order to consider future areas in need of development. Method: Within the framework of a generalized overview of current trends in the study of traumatic stress, an assessment of the strengths and limitations of these 4 articles is provided. Populations and syndromes covered by the articles include ethnoracial differences in child maltreatment and adverse mental health outcomes among sexual minority participants, PTSD symptom elevations among Hispanic Americans, binge eating and the strong Black woman schema, and retention of African American female participants in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy trials for PTSD. Results: Recommendations to enhance culturally competent traumatic stress studies include increasing the examination of within-group cultural variability and key social, contextual, and cultural variables and constructs; examining the temporal sequencing of traumatic events and key transitions in sexual and ethnic minority identity development; and conducting prevention and treatment studies for those sexual minority children most at risk for maltreatment. Conclusions: By following these recommendations, the next generation of studies of traumatic stress studies will be enhanced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What predicts psychological resilience after disaster? The role of demographics, resources, and life stress.

A growing body of evidence suggests that most adults exposed to potentially traumatic events are resilient. However, research on the factors that may promote or deter adult resilience has been limited. This study examined patterns of association between resilience and various sociocontextual factors. The authors used data from a random-digit-dial phone survey (N = 2,752) conducted in the New York City area after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. Resilience was defined as having 1 or 0 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and as being associated with low levels of depression and substance use. Multivariate analyses indicated that the prevalence of resilience was uniquely predicted by participant gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, level of trauma exposure, income change, social support, frequency of chronic disease, and recent and past life stressors. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)