Context Of Relationships Research Articles

Abstract 4215: Air pollution exposure during pregnancy and risk of premenopausal breast cancer among women with a family history of cancer

Abstract Background: Having a family history of breast or ovarian cancer is an important risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer. One reason for this could be that women with an underlying genetic susceptibility are more sensitive to environmental exposures due to gene-environment interactions. This might be especially important if the exposure occur during windows of susceptibility, such as pregnancy. Aim: The aim of this project is to determine if exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is associated with premenopausal breast cancer in a population with a known family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Methods: The project is based on nation-wide data from Sweden’s national registers and utilizes a cohort study design. The original cohort consists of women who gave birth to their first child between 1992 and 2015 (n=1 074 925), from this cohort we will select women with at least one first degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer (confirmed through register linkage). The primary outcome is primary breast cancer diagnosed before 50 years of age, and the exposure is levels of air pollution (PM10, PM2.5 and NO2) at the participant’s home address during each pregnancy. Cox proportional hazards regression will be used to determine hazard ratios using age as the time-scale. Results: The registry based linkage makes it possible to distinguish between both relational context (mother or sister), number of afflicted first degree relatives and type of cancer (breast or ovarian). All included women also have at least one recorded pregnancy (prior to any cancer diagnosis). Conclusion: This large scale study will be able to provide important information about the impact of air pollution exposure during pregnancy on breast cancer risk in a population with a documented family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Citation Format: Anna Hettinger, Jessica Edlund, Malin Gustafsson, Jenny Lindén, Wendy Yi-Ying Wu, Anna Oudin, Sophia Harlid. Air pollution exposure during pregnancy and risk of premenopausal breast cancer among women with a family history of cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4215.

From Dynamite Hill to The Black Power Mixtape: Angela Davis on the Violence/Nonviolence Binary and the Mediation of Black Political Thought

This essay explores the archive of a 1971 interview of Angela Davis by Swedish journalist Bo Holmström—recorded in Santa Clara County Jail where Davis awaited trial—to examine the relationship between Black radical thought and its social and intellectual mediation, especially when it comes to questions of violence versus nonviolence. Where Holmström invokes the “violence/nonviolence” binary in the interview, Davis pointedly resists its distortions, restoring the record of contemporary and historical conditions of racial terror that both necessitate and criminalize Black self-defense. Decades later, the interview was filtered through the violence/nonviolence binary in editing for the acclaimed 2011 documentary, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, with Davis’s wider conversation with Holmström not only abridged but remixed into a shorter exchange on armed self-defense. Studying the interview from its conditions of possibility through its later remixing, and reading it together with her opening defense statement (1972) and later speeches and writings, the essay excavates and explicates Davis’s original theoretical interventions and indexes a cluster of forces that mediate Black radical thought, Black women’s radical thought more specifically, and prison texts. The final section historicizes Davis’s theorization of the spatial and relational contexts of Black self-defense in Dynamite Hill, Alabama, and in California, and contends that her incisive interventions into the violence/nonviolence binary in 1971 remain critical here and now.

Ghanaian Muslims in Search of a Representative Institution: The Legacy of Sheik Osman Nuhu Sharubutu and Future Prospects

ABSTRACT Often, interreligious and political engagements by religious communities are hampered by internal disunity. This article examines efforts by the Ghanaian Muslim community to establish umbrella bodies to facilitate religious and socio-political engagement on behalf of the national umma. Focus is given to the inter-sectarian Office of the National Chief Imam (ONCI) and the role of the National Chief Imam, Sheik Osman Nuhu Sharubutu. The article first sets out the nature of fragmentation within the Muslim community and the religion– state relational context that inspires the establishment of such multiple bridge-building and advocacy groups. Whereas rapid failure was a prominent feature of previous Muslim councils, the Sheik Sharubutu led ONCI has been relatively successful at mediating intra– and inter-religious dialogue as well as socio- political engagement of Ghanaian Muslims for over three decades since 1989. Whilst highlighting the legacies and success factors of Sheik Sharubutu in this regard, the article also critiques the institutional weaknesses of the ONCI and discusses the feasibility of adopting for the ONCI the structures of a Christian ecumenical body as proposed by some of the Muslim leaders interviewed. The discussion is then broadened to generally examine some essentials for an effective Islamic umbrella body.

A Pastoral Framework for Infidelity Counseling

Abstract Marital restoration from infidelity follows the biblical pattern of Christian discipleship, involving specific action steps and progress of insight in a relational context. The teaching of Jesus that adultery comes from the heart provides a central guiding insight for conceptualizing infidelity and marital restoration. A framework is presented for the varied helping efforts required for the spouse who was unfaithful, for the spouse who was betrayed, and for the marriage. KEYWORDS: Pastoral counseling, infidelity, adultery, affairs, marriage counseling, divorce, marital reconciliation

Transgression-related co-rumination: Scale validation and prediction of relational outcomes.

Co-rumination refers to the extended and/or recurring discussion of issues in social relationships. The extant research tends to conceptualize co-rumination in terms of general interaction styles, commonly between individuals who act as a source of support for one another. Little work has examined co-rumination in conflict contexts, between victims and offenders, as an event-specific process to come to terms with wrongdoing. The present research develops and validates a new scale measuring three distinct approaches to transgression-related co-rumination: co-reflection, co-brooding, and co-avoidance. Within the context of close romantic relationships, we show that these new co-rumination scales are associated with conciliatory sentiments including victim forgiveness, offender self-forgiveness, and relationship commitment. This research highlights co-rumination between parties as an important mechanism to consider in the process of relationship repair. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Extracting Concepts From Fuzzy Relational Context Families

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Fuzzy relational formal concept analysis (FRCA)</i> mines collections of fuzzy concept lattices from <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">fuzzy relational context families</i> , which are special datasets made of fuzzy formal contexts and fuzzy relations between objects of different types. Mainly, FRCA consists of the following procedures: first, an initial fuzzy relational context family is transformed into a collection of fuzzy formal contexts; second, a fuzzy concept lattice is generated from each fuzzy formal context by using one of the techniques existing in the literature. The principal tools to transform a fuzzy context family into a set of fuzzy formal contexts are the so-called <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">fuzzy scaling quantifiers</i> , which are particular fuzzy quantifiers based on the concept of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">evaluative linguistic expression</i> . FRCA can be applied whenever information needs to be extracted from multirelational datasets including vagueness, and it can be viewed as an extension of both <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">relational concept analysis</i> and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">fuzzy formal concept analysis</i> . This article contributes to the development of fuzzy relational concept analysis by achieving the following goals. First of all, we present and study a new class of fuzzy quantifiers, called <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t-scaling quantifiers</i> , to extract fuzzy concepts from fuzzy relational context families. Subsequently, we provide an algorithm to generate, given a t-scaling quantifier, a collection of fuzzy concept lattices from a special fuzzy relational context family, which is composed of a pair of fuzzy formal contexts and a fuzzy relation between their objects. After that, we introduce an ordered relation on the set of all t-scaling quantifiers, which allows us to discover a correspondence among fuzzy concept lattices deriving from different t-scaling quantifiers. Finally, we discuss how the results obtained for t-scaling quantifiers can be extended to the class of fuzzy scaling quantifies. Therefore, this analysis highlights the main differences between t-scaling and fuzzy quantifiers.

Dissociation-Induced Shame in Those with a Dissociative Disorder: Assessing the Impact of Relationship context using Vignettes

ABSTRACT Some evidence in non-clinical groups suggests that the relationship context in which dissociation is experienced might moderate its association with shame. The current study used vignettes detailing either dissociative symptoms or the expression of sadness occurring in three different relationship contexts: with a friend, an acquaintance, or when alone. Ratings of emotional (e.g. shame, anxiety) and behavioral (e.g. leave, talk) reactions were made on single-item measures, and shame feelings were further assessed with the State Shame Scale. Participants were in treatment for either dissociative identity disorder (n = 31) or other specified dissociative disorder (n = 3; N = 34). Feelings of shame were elevated in the acquaintance condition compared to when with a close friend or alone regardless of whether dissociation or sadness was experienced. In the acquaintance context, participants exposed to dissociation or sadness reported feeling annoyed at themselves, having a greater desire to leave, and a lesser desire to talk compared to when these experiences happened with a close friend or alone. Results suggest those with a dissociative disorder appraise themselves as more vulnerable to shame if experiencing dissociation or sadness when with an acquaintance, potentially because the risk of not being understood and rejected is heightened.

Hugs and Cortisol Awakening Response the Next Day: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Previous research suggests that affectionate touch such as hugs might downregulate stress systems such as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. However, the current literature lacks in generalizability beyond the laboratory setting and outside the context of romantic relationships. The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a measure of the HPA axis and is responsive to daily fluctuations in stress and social information. However, associations between affectionate touch and the CAR have never been assessed. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure daily hugging behaviors in 104 first-year college students and salivary cortisol to assess the CAR. Participants who reported more daily hugs in their social interactions had significantly smaller CARs the next morning compared to days they reported fewer hugs. This study contributes to the literature on social interactions and stress responsive systems and emphasizes the importance of assessing affectionate touch behaviors such as hugs that can be exchanged outside the context of romantic relationships.

Just Listen! The importance of listening in foreign correspondents–governments relationships

This study examines the role of listening methods within public diplomacy (PD)/foreign correspondents' relations. Listening theory plays a double role in the study: a) It serves as the theoretical basis for analyzing whether listening and, more specifically, feedback are applied by Israeli public diplomacy (PD) bodies; b) It serves as the core methodology of this study. We demonstrate the value of listening within the context of these professional relationships by applying a methodological simulation of listening. By systematically listening to both parties, one can uncover and trace gaps between the parties' perceptions and better understand their relationship. Based on fifty semi-structured, in-depth interviews with PD seniors and foreign correspondents, the study compares and contrasts the parties' perceptions regarding tactical and strategic aspects of Israeli PD organizations’ actions. The findings indicate a substantial lack of critical listening methods in Israel's PD mechanism. By applying systematic listening methods, gaps and weak links in the parties’ relationship surfaced. To address these gaps, we recommend implementing recurring feedback platforms. These might assist the parties in developing more authentic and open dialogue, despite disagreements and disputes.

Context-dependent sexual changes during women’s midlife transitions

For women, midlife represents an important stage of transition, including shifts in physiological, social, and sexual experiences. Prior research demonstrates that women’s sexuality is more dynamic and context-dependent than men’s. Most research focused on women’s sexuality in mid- to later-life emphasizes physiological changes, while largely ignoring changes stemming from social, psychological, and relational contexts. The present study examined midlife women’s diverse sexual experiences within the context of their lives. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 women, ages 39–57, and used interpretative phenomenological analysis to investigate perceptions and interpretations of midlife sexual experiences and changes. Themes included changes in sexual engagement, unwanted sexual experiences, body image, and sexual healthcare. Participants reported changes in the frequency of sex and sexual desire within the context of their diverse social roles and identities, prior intimate relationships, and sexual health. Women contrasted perceptions of their own bodies with societal perceptions of sexiness. Frequently reported negative experiences with sexual healthcare informed a distrust of healthcare systems. The diverse and changing nature of participants’ experiences supports prior evidence of sexual fluidity and context-dependence. By questioning societal expectations around sexuality and body image, participants illustrated the potential of counternarratives to combat dominant beliefs and stereotypes about midlife women’s sexuality. To improve sexual health and education, psychoeducational interventions for women in midlife are needed.

Maternal storytelling and reminiscing styles in relation to preschoolers’ perspective-taking abilities

This study investigated mothers’ narrative styles across storytelling and reminiscing contexts in relation to preschoolers’ visual, socio-cognitive, and syntactic perspective-taking (PT) abilities. The sample consisted of 120 Turkish mothers and their 3- to 5-year-old children. Mother-child dyads were asked to retell a storybook and to reminisce about an event they experienced in the lab. Children’s visual PT, false belief understanding, syntactic PT, and vocabulary were assessed. The results indicated that mothers showed distinct narrative scaffolding styles in each context (storytelling: storyteller and story builder; reminiscing: elicitor, constructor, co-teller). Maternal storytelling styles, but not reminiscing styles were related to children’s age. Children of storytellers performed better in syntactic and visual PT tasks than children of story builders, and children of memory elicitors scored higher in visual PT tasks than children of co-tellers. The implications of these findings are discussed within our understanding of how mother-child discourse affects children’s socio-cognitive development.

A Blog-Based Study of Autistic Adults' Experiences of Aloneness and Connection and the Interplay with Well-Being: Corpus-Based and Thematic Analyses.

Autistic adults appear to be more vulnerable to mental ill health, with loneliness being a variable associated with multiple outcomes of poorer well-being. However, a description of meaningful social connection that is suitable for autistic adults is missing from this research, along with a missing understanding of the conditions that contribute to well-being. In this study, autistic adults' experiences of connectedness and aloneness were systematically searched for within data collected from blogs. This contributed a creative method to hear the viewpoint of autistic adults. Corpus-based and thematic analyses explored the descriptions and contexts of relationships. A total of 16 autistic authors contributed views. Social connection was desired and was achieved through self-acceptance and rejecting deficit-based views of being autistic, and selectively choosing important relationships. Meaningful social connection changed over time, being more difficult to attain in childhood, and benefiting from self-learning and effortfully applying neuro-normative skills in social communication. Loneliness was only described alongside other causes of unhappiness and was not associated with being autistic. The findings offer some explanation for the high estimates of both loneliness and mental ill health for autistic adults. We consider the implications for autistic individuals, clinicians, educators, and researchers. We are also cautious not to imply that these views reflect all autistic people. The findings suggest that improvements are needed in society to share communication differences and relationship expectations for autistic individuals to be accepted and valued.

Gifts to whom? Towards a network view of gift receivers

PurposeThis research paper aims to understand how givers characterise and manage their gift giving networks by drawing on attachment theory (AT). This responds to the need to illuminate the givers–receivers’ networks beyond traditional role-based taxonomies and explore their changing dynamics.Design/methodology/approachA multi-method, qualitative approach was used involving 158 gift experiences captured in online diaries and 27 follow-up interviews.FindingsResults show that givers organise receivers into gifting networks that are grounded in a contextual understanding of their relationships. The identification of direct, surrogate and mediated bonds reflects three different dimensions that inform gift-giving networks of support, care or belongingness rooted in AT. The relative position of gift receivers in this network influences the nature of support, the type of social influences and relationship stability in the network.Research limitations/implicationsThis study illustrates the complexity of relationships based on the data collected over two specific periods of time; thus, there might be further types of receivers within a giver’s network that the data did not capture. This limitation was minimised by asking about other possible receivers in interviews.Practical implicationsThe findings set a foundation for gift retailers to assist gift givers in finding gifts that match their perceived relations to the receivers by adapting communication messages and offering advice aligned with specific relationship contexts.Originality/valueThis study illuminates gift-giving networks by proposing a taxonomy of gifting networks underpinned by AT that can be applied to study different relationship contexts from the perspective of the giver. This conceptualisation captures different levels of emotional support, social influences and relationship stability, which have an impact on the receivers’ roles within the giver’s network. Importantly, results reveal that the gift receiver is not always the target of gift-giving. The target can be someone whom the giver wants to please or an acquaintance they share with the receiver with whom they wish to reinforce bonds.

The Multilevel Engagement Theory

The purpose of this article is to present the multilevel engagement theory to conduct research studies and explain real-life situations. The multilevel engagement theory considers culture and diversity as central aspects along with the multilevel influences and sociocultural and historical contexts for understanding complex relationships and functioning among individuals, groups, and families in societies around the world. A critical review and assessment of the contemporary theories were conducted which uncovered important gaps and helped the author to demonstrate the contribution of the multilevel engagement theory in the relevant fields of study. Then, the author discussed the principles, assumptions, concepts, and propositions of the multilevel engagement theory. The use, application, and operationalization of the multilevel engagement theory in empirical research were also described with specific examples. The author also provided specific and testable hypotheses and qualitative themes for additional clarity and explanation of the multilevel engagement theory. The multilevel engagement theory offers researchers a comprehensive theoretical framework and a unique lens for studying family relationships and functioning in contextualized and inclusive manners. The implications and limitations are discussed.

What makes people feel loved? An exploratory study on core elements of love across family, romantic, and friend relationships.

With research long focusing on distinct characteristics of different love types, little is known about love as a general feeling across relationship contexts. To explore the core elements of love as perceived by laypeople and whether these elements weigh differently in different relationships, grounded theory was used to analyze open-ended responses from 468 individuals about their feeling loved in family, romantic, and friend relationships. Results indicated that the feeling of love is an interpersonal process in which one receives positive responsiveness from the other and experiences an authentic connection with the other, consistently across conditions and time (i.e., in a sense of stability); three core elements were shared across family, romantic, and friend relationships. Chi-square independence tests revealed differentiated weights for love elements in three relationships, which corresponded to the prototypical love definition in family, romantic, and friend relationships. Findings suggested an integrated theoretical conceptualization of love as a shared feeling and asset across relationships, which provided important insights on love conceptualization, assessment, and study design, as well as implications for the treatment of dysfunctional relationships, best practices in daily interpersonal interactions, and improvement in intervention and therapy.

“Being careful”: How much caution is enough? The relational context of fear of older adult falling in older adult-family caregiver dyads

Family caregivers play an important role in coping with older adult falls; however, their perspectives on fear of older adult falling are lacking from the falls prevention literature. A mixed-method design (N=25 dyads) with interview and survey data examined linguistic characteristics and coping strategies used by older adult and family caregiver dyads to manage fear of older adult falling. Fear of older adult falling consisted of both affective (e.g., worry) and cognitive (e.g., cautious) properties. Family caregivers more frequently used affective words and first-person plural pronouns (“we” language) when talking about fear of older adult falling, while older adults more frequently used cognitive and first-and-second person singular pronouns (“I”, “you”). The concept of “being careful” was shared within dyads. However, dyad partners differed in their perspectives of what constituted “being careful” and the possibilities of future falling. Findings suggest that the need for family-centered interventions to prevent falls are needed.

Understanding the views of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties for person‐centred planning

AbstractBackgroundAll children have the right to express their views about matters affecting them and participate in decision‐making for their future irrespective of their intellectual ability. This study explores the adult role in understanding the views of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties who are not using a formal communication system and require adults to speak on their behalf.MethodsThe study employs a qualitative multiple case study design involving three children with profound and multiple learning difficulties attending one special school. Social constructivist grounded theory approaches inform data gathering and analysis. Eight interviews are conducted with parents and professionals to explore how they understand the children's views and how this understanding informs person‐centred planning, combined with observations of the children in school and observations of their person‐centred planning meetings.FindingsAdult participants consider the children in the study to have agency and ability to affect the world around them. They believe the children can express their likes, dislikes and what they want but they think the children would have difficulty communicating their views about their health, medical needs and disability. They describe a range of observable actions made by a child to which they give meaning when interpreting the child's views. The actions a person takes as a child's communication partner can enable the child to develop and communicate their views. A process of observation and comparison allows adults to explore different interpretations of a child's views. Perspectives offered by professionals from different fields enable a child's views to be understood in different ways.ConclusionsAdults develop their understanding of the children's views over time in relational and social contexts. Different interpretations of a child's communication are considered when adults collaborate, leading to socially constructed understandings of a child's views. Adults infer the meaning of a child's views about what is important to them for the future from their understanding of the child's views in the present, which informs person‐centred planning.

Dobbs, the Intrusive State, and the Future of Solidarity.

The intrusive state has long viewed women as fetal containers. The Dobbs decision goes further, essentially causing women to vanish when fetuses are abstracted from their relationships to pregnant persons. The ways in which women are first controlled and then made invisible are clearly connected with the move from obedience to omission that has historically affected black Americans. When personal decisionmaking and participation in democracy are regarded as threats, those threatened restrict decisional freedom and political power, deepening structural injustices relating to sex, race, and poverty. Fear of Dobbs has health effects on conditions unrelated to pregnancy and connects with erasures of human value that are not health-related. We reaffirm solidarity as a countering influence. Taking account of the richly relational context in which issues like abortion and political representation arise should lead to better, more meaningful policies, making so many people impossible to unsee.

Does fit perception influence career exploration in a relational context? The mediating role of career adaptability

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between contextual factors and career exploration. Career adaptability mediates the relationship between social support, sense of belonging and career exploration. Design/methodology/approach This quantitative study involved 291 undergraduates recruited from two universities in China. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that social support and sense of belonging were positively related to career adaptability. Career adaptability was found to be a mediator between relational predictors and career exploration. Contrary to our hypothesis, the direct path from sense of belonging to career exploration was insignificant. Originality/value This study highlights the importance of career adaptability in connecting contextual indicators and career exploration in the Chinese context.

Father trait anger: Associations with father-infant bonding and subsequent parenting stress.

Parent anger presents a risk to family safety and child development. Father trait anger may also compromise the early relational context of fathers and offspring, yet evidence is lacking. The aim of this study is to examine effects of father trait anger on parenting stress in the toddler years, and the mediational role of father-infant bonding. Data were from 177 Australian fathers of 205 children. Trait anger (total, angry temperament, and angry reaction), father-infant bonding subscales (patience and tolerance, affection and pride, and pleasure in interaction), and subsequent parenting stress (parental distress, difficult child, and parent-child dysfunctional interaction) were assessed. At each of the subscale levels, mediational path models examined whether father-infant bonding explained the relationship between trait anger and parenting stress. Models were presented where there was at least a small association between the mediator and both the predictor and outcome. Patience and tolerance was the only domain of father-infant bonding correlated with both trait anger and all parenting stress outcomes. Patience and tolerance partially mediated the effect of total trait anger on parental distress and fully mediated effects on difficult child and parent-child dysfunctional interaction. Patience and tolerance fully mediated relationships between angry temperament and all domains of parenting stress. Angry reactions only had a direct effect on parental distress. Father trait anger both directly and indirectly (through patience and tolerance in the father-infant bond) impacts their experiences of parenting stress in the toddler years. Early interventions to manage father trait anger and improve father-infant bonding may benefit fathers and children.