Project description:ObjectivesWhile prejudice has often been shown to be rooted in experiences of threat, the biological underpinnings of this threat-prejudice association have received less research attention. The present experiment aims to test whether activations of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, due to anticipated interactions with out-group members, predict self-reported prejudice. Moreover, we explore potential moderators of this relationship (i.e., interpersonal similarity; subtle vs. blatant prejudice).Methodology/principal findingsParticipants anticipated an interaction with an out-group member who was similar or dissimilar to the self. To index HPA activation, cortisol responses to this event were measured. Then, subtle and blatant prejudices were measured via questionnaires. Findings indicated that only when people anticipated an interaction with an out-group member who was dissimilar to the self, their cortisol response to this event significantly predicted subtle (r = .50) and blatant (r = .53) prejudice.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that prejudicial attitudes are linked to HPA-axis activity. Furthermore, when intergroup interactions are interpreted to be about individuals (and not so much about groups), experienced threat (or its biological substrate) is less likely to relate to prejudice. This conclusion is discussed in terms of recent insights from social neuroscience.
Project description:INTRODUCTION AND AIMS:That physical, emotional and social problems occur not only to drinkers, but also to others they connect with, is increasingly acknowledged. Financial harms from others' drinking have been seldom studied at the population level, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Whether financial harm and costs from others' drinking inequitably affect women is little known. The study's aim is to compare estimates and correlates of alcohol's financial harm to others than the drinker in 15 countries. METHODS AND MATERIALS:Cross-sectional surveys of Alcohol's Harm To Others (AHTO) were conducted in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, India, Ireland, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. PARTICIPANTS:17,670 men and 20,947 women. MEASUREMENT:The prevalence of financial harm in the last year was assessed as financial trouble and/or less money available for household expenses because of someone else's drinking. ANALYSIS:Meta-analysis and country-level logistic regression of financial harm (vs. none), adjusted for gender, age, education, rurality and participant drinking. RESULTS:Under 3.2 % of respondents in most high-income countries reported financial harm due to others' drinking, whereas 12-22 % did in Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. Financial harm from others' drinking was significantly more common among women than men in nine countries. Among men and women, financial harm was significantly more prevalent in low- and middle- than in high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS:Reports of financial harm from others' drinking are more common among women than among men, and in low- and middle-income than in high-income countries.
Project description:Concentration- and time-dependent genomic changes in the mouse urinary bladder following exposure to arsenate in drinking water for up to twelve weeks. Inorganic arsenic (Asi) is a known human bladder carcinogen. The objective of this study was to examine the concentration dependence of the genomic response to Asi in the urinary bladders of mice. C57BL/6J mice were exposed for 1 or 12 weeks to arsenate in drinking water at concentrations of 0.5, 2, 10, and 50 mg As/L. Urinary bladders were analyzed using gene expression microarrays. A consistent reversal was observed in the direction of gene expression change: from predominantly decreased expression at 1 week to predominantly increased expression at 12 weeks. These results are consistent with evidence from in vitro studies of an acute adaptive response that is suppressed on longer exposure due to down-regulation of Fos. Pathways with the highest enrichment in gene expression changes were associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, inflammation, and proliferation. Benchmark dose (BMD) analysis determined that the lowest median BMD values for pathways were above 5 mg As/L, despite the fact that pathway enrichment was observed at the 0.5 mg As/L exposure concentration. This disparity may result from the non-monotonic nature of the concentration-responses for the expression changes of a number of genes, as evidenced by the much fewer gene expression changes at 2 mg As/L compared to lower or higher concentrations. Pathway categories with concentration-related gene expression changes included cellular morphogenesis, inflammation, apoptosis/survival, cell cycle control, and DNA damage response. The results of this study provide evidence of a concentration-dependent transition in the mode of action for the subchronic effects of Asi in mouse bladder cells in the vicinity of 2 mg Asi/L.
Project description:BackgroundSelf-harm and drinking are both serious problems in adolescents and many studies presented evidence of their association. However, gender differences in this association are seldom deeply discussed. Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of self-harm and explore its association with drinking behaviors by gender and investigate the extent to which the gender differences exist in the association between self-harm and drinking.MethodsA total of 32,362 students in grades 7 to 12 in Beijing, China were anonymously surveyed and included in our study using two-stage, stratified probability proportion sampling. Self-harm, drinking behaviors and other basic information were obtained from an anonymous questionnaire. Demographic variables, self-harm and drinking behaviors were analyzed using the Chi-square test and the Gamma test between genders and the gender differences in this association were analyzed by Log-binomial regression.ResultsThe total prevalence of self-harm was 13.7% with no significant gender difference (χ2 =0.352, P = 0.553). The prevalence of self-harm in girls decreased with age (G = -0.163, P < 0.001). Self-harm was associated with drinking behaviors in both boys and girls. The Log-binomial regression demonstrated that girls in the 16-19 years old group were at lower risk of self-harm than girls in the 12-15 years old group while this association was weaker in boys (1.493 vs 1.128). The higher OR for self-harm was found among girls with early drinking experiences compared with boys (2.565 vs 1.863). Girls who had previously drunk (i.e. drunk at least once) (2.211 vs 1.636), were currently drinking (3.400 vs 2.122) and performed binge drinking (6.357 vs 3.924) were at greater risk of self-harm than boys.ConclusionAmong high school students, self-harm has a significant positive association with drinking and girls with drinking behaviors are at higher risk of suffering self-harm. Identifying adolescents' drinking behaviors is of vital importance to self-harm prevention and special attention should be focused on younger girls.
Project description:BackgroundRelatively little is known about the characteristics of people living in the community who have previously self-harmed and may benefit from interventions during and after COVID-19. We therefore aimed to: (a) examine the relationship between reported self-harm and COVID-19-related fear, and (b) describe the characteristics of a community sample of people who reported a lifetime history of self-harm.MethodsA cross-sectional national online survey of UK adults who reported a lifetime history of self-harm (n = 1029) was conducted. Data were collected May - June 2020. Main outcomes were self-reported COVID-19-related fear (based on the Fear of COVID-19 scale [FCV-19S]), lifetime history of COVID-19, and lifetime history of self-harm. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Chi-square was used to compare characteristics of our sample with available national data.ResultsOverall, 75.1, 40.2 and 74.3% of the total sample reported lifetime suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts and non-suicidal self-harm respectively. When adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, social grade, and exposure to death and suicide, binary logistic regression showed higher levels of perceived symptomatic (or physiological) reactions to COVID-19 were associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.22, 95%CI 1.07, 1.39) and suicidal attempts (OR = 3.91, 95%CI 1.18, 12.96) in the past week.ConclusionsResults suggest an urgent need to consider the impact of COVID-19 on people with a lifetime history of self-harm when designing interventions to help support people in reducing suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts. Experiencing symptomatic reactions of fear in particular is associated with self-harm. Helping to support people to develop coping plans in response to threat-related fear is likely to help people at risk of repeat self-harm during public health emergencies.
Project description:BackgroundSuggestibility, defined as an individual's inclination to accept and internalize messages, has not been studied in relation to alcohol use. Peer conformity, a component of suggestibility, may be related to alcohol use, as peer groups show similarities in patterns of alcohol use. Few studies have assessed how suggestibility and peer conformity relate to alcohol self-administration or to reinforcing effects of alcohol.AimsThis study assessed whether suggestibility and peer conformity were associated with drinking behavior, alcohol self-administration, subjective response to alcohol, and drinking motives and expectancies.MethodsStudy 1 participants were alcohol drinkers (n=20), who completed a laboratory study of free-access intravenous alcohol self-administration. Study 2 participants were adolescents and young adults, age 14-25 (n=150), with lifetime alcohol use. Participants completed surveys of suggestibility and drinking patterns (Study 1 and 2), subjective alcohol effects (Study 1 only), and alcohol motives and expectancies (Study 2 only).Results/outcomesIn Study 1, participants with higher levels of suggestiblity self-administered more alcohol, and reported greater subjective alcohol effects. Peer conformity, though correlated with suggestibility, was not related to these measures. In Study 2, participants with higher suggestiblity reported more alcohol consumption, higher drinking motives and alcohol expectancies. Peer conformity was not related to alcohol consumption, but was related to coping and enhancement drinking motives, and all expectancies measures.Conclusions/interpretationResults indicate that suggestibility, beyond peer conformity, may be a critical factor to study when examining alcohol consumption behavior, and may provide insight into the development of alcohol use disorder.
Project description:BackgroundArsenic, a common groundwater pollutant, is associated with adverse reproductive health but few studies have examined its effect on maternal health.MethodsA prospective cohort was recruited in Bangladesh from 2008-2011 (N = 1,458). At enrollment (<16 weeks gestational age [WGA]), arsenic was measured in personal drinking water using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Questionnaires collected health data at enrollment, at 28 WGA, and within one month of delivery. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for self-reported health symptoms were estimated for each arsenic quartile using logistic regression.ResultsOverall, the mean concentration of arsenic was 38 μg/L (Standard deviation, 92.7 μg/L). A total of 795 women reported one or more of the following symptoms during pregnancy (cold/flu/infection, nausea/vomiting, abdominal cramping, headache, vaginal bleeding, or swollen ankles). Compared to participants exposed to the lowest quartile of arsenic (≤0.9 μg/L), the aOR for reporting any symptom during pregnancy was 0.62 (95% CI = 0.44-0.88) in the second quartile, 1.83 (95% CI = 1.25-2.69) in the third quartile, and 2.11 (95% CI = 1.42-3.13) in the fourth quartile where the mean arsenic concentration in each quartile was 1.5 μg/L, 12.0 μg/L and 144.7 μg/L, respectively. Upon examining individual symptoms, only nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping showed consistent associations with arsenic exposure. The odds of self-reported nausea/vomiting was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.68, 1.41), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.18), and 1.81 (95% CI: 1.26, 2.60) in the second, third and fourth quartile of arsenic relative to the lowest quartile after adjusting for age, body mass index, second-hand tobacco smoke exposure, educational status, parity, anemia, ferritin, medication usage, type of sanitation at home, and household income. A positive trend was also observed for abdominal cramping (P for trend <0.0001). A marginal negative association was observed between arsenic quartiles and odds of self-reported cold/flu/infection (P for trend = 0.08). No association was observed between arsenic and self-reported headache (P for trend = 0.19).ConclusionModerate exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water early in pregnancy was associated with increased odds of experiencing nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping. Preventing exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water during pregnancy could improve maternal health.