Development of the Resistance and Empowerment Against Racism (REAR) Scale.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop and validate the Resistance and Empowerment Against Racism (REAR) scale. METHOD: Fifty items developed through processes adapted from Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) were administered to a sample of 723 women and 230 men of color (Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx, and Native Americans). We employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using stratified subsamples; examined construct validity of the final REAR scale and subscales; and evaluated 2-week test-retest reliability with a subsample. RESULTS: Analyses supported a four-factor model, including Awareness and Relational Resistance; Participation in Resistance Activities and Organizations; Interpersonal Confrontation; and Leadership for Resistance. The REAR demonstrated good test-retest and internal reliability and construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the REAR may enable researchers and clinicians to examine how people of color proactively respond to racism through empowered action to challenge racism, and how these responses may moderate the negative effects of racism on psychological well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of duration of electronic cigarette use.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the effect of duration electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use on e-cigarette dependence, frequency of use, and strength of nicotine solution as well as number of cigarettes smoked per day. METHODS: Individuals were recruited at e-cigarette retail locations in a large Midwestern metropolitan city of the United States in July 2013. A total of 159 participants completed a brief 29-item self-report measure that assessed behaviors and perceptions of use. The mean age of the participants was 35.8 years; 84.4% were White, and 53.7% were male. RESULTS: Increased duration of e-cigarette use was associated with fewer cigarettes smoked per day and differing patterns of dependence to e-cigarettes contingent upon smoking history. Additionally, increased duration of e-cigarette use was associated with increased frequency of use; however, this finding became nonsignificant when current tobacco cigarette use was accounted for, suggesting that individuals may increase e-cigarette use frequency as they decrease cigarette use. Overall, e-cigarette users tended to decrease the strength of nicotine in their e-cigarette products regardless of duration of use. CONCLUSIONS: Although preliminary in nature, this study identifies several factors that are important to consider when examining the effects of prolonged e-cigarette use. The implications of the current results should be informative to future studies that examine these variables in longitudinal designs.

Coping with racial discrimination: a preliminary examination of coping strategies in college students at a University in Northeastern U.S.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the associations between coping strategies in response to racism and distress symptoms. SAMPLE: One hundred forty-four racially minoritized students at a northeastern university completed an online survey. METHODS: Participants completed self-report active and emotion-focused coping and distress symptom (i.e., depression and anxiety) measures. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to test: 1) correlations between coping strategies in response to racism and distress symptoms, and 2) whether emotional acceptance moderates the association between active coping in response to racism and distress symptoms. RESULTS: Students' self-compassionate responses to their emotional reactions to discrimination uniquely predicted less distress. In contrast, reports of using resistance and education in response to discrimination were positively correlated with distress symptoms; however, these associations were no longer significant when accounting for emotional acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that emotional acceptance coping may be associated with lower distress symptoms. Active coping was associated with increased distress symptoms, except when accounting for emotional acceptance coping.

The impact of a brief cessation induction intervention for waterpipe tobacco smoking: A pilot randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Waterpipe (WP) tobacco smoking delivers many of the same harmful toxicants as cigarette smoking and is on the rise in the US. This study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of a brief personalized feedback intervention in affecting changes in WP smoking among current WP smokers. METHODS: Participants (N=109) were recruited as they entered WP lounges and completed a questionnaire and exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO) testing before entering the WP lounge. Participants were cluster-randomized to assessment-only control (AOC) or intervention conditions. The intervention condition received health risk information and personalized feedback on pre- and post-WP session eCO levels. Participants completed a survey at the end of the WP session and at 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Compared to control, the intervention was effective in increasing knowledge of WP-related harms, correcting risk perceptions, increasing importance of quitting WP smoking, and increasing confidence in ability to quit WP smoking at post-WP session (p<0.05). Differences were maintained for knowledge of WP-related harms, risk perceptions, and commitment to quitting WP at 3-month follow-up; however, no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in WP smoking (i.e., days smoked and number of WPs smoked) at 3-month follow-up between the intervention (M=3.97days, SD=9.83; M=6.45 bowls, SD=19.60) and control conditions (M=3.32days, SD=5.24; M=3.49 bowls, SD=5.10). CONCLUSIONS: The current research supports the use of personalized feedback as a useful intervention method to increase commitment to quit WP, but suggests more intensive interventions may be necessary to achieve WP cessation.

Biochemically verified smoking cessation and vaping beliefs among vape store customers.

AIMS: To evaluate biochemically verified smoking status and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) use behaviors and beliefs among a sample of customers from vapor stores (stores specializing in ENDS). DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional survey of 215 adult vapor store customers at four retail locations in the Midwestern United States; a subset of participants (n = 181) also completed exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) testing to verify smoking status. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes evaluated included ENDS preferences, harm beliefs, use behaviors, smoking history and current biochemically verified smoking status. FINDINGS: Most customers reported starting ENDS as a means of smoking cessation (86%), using newer-generation devices (89%), vaping non-tobacco/non-menthol flavors (72%) and using e-liquid with nicotine strengths of ≤20 mg/ml (72%). There was a high rate of switching (91.4%) to newer-generation ENDS among those who started with a first-generation product. Exhaled CO readings confirmed that 66% of the tested sample had quit smoking. Among those who continued to smoke, mean cigarettes per day decreased from 22.1 to 7.5 (P <0.001). People who reported vaping longer [odds ratio (OR) = 4.659, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.001-10.846], using newer-generation devices (OR = 2.950, 95% CI = 1.037-8.395) and using non-tobacco and non-menthol flavors (OR = 2.626, 95% CI = 1.133-6.085) were more likely to have quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Among vapor store customers in the United States who use electronic nicotine delivery devices to stop smoking, vaping longer, using newer-generation devices and using non-tobacco and non-menthol flavored e-liquid appear to be associated with higher rates of smoking cessation.

Postpartum depression on the neonatal intensive care unit: current perspectives.

As the most common complication of childbirth affecting 10%-15% of women, postpartum depression (PPD) goes vastly undetected and untreated, inflicting long-term consequences on both mother and child. Studies consistently show that mothers of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience PPD at higher rates with more elevated symptomatology than mothers of healthy infants. Although there has been increased awareness regarding the overall prevalence of PPD and recognition of the need for health care providers to address this health issue, there has not been adequate attention to PPD in the context of the NICU. This review will focus on an overview of PPD and psychological morbidities, the prevalence of PPD in mothers of infants admitted to NICU, associated risk factors, potential PPD screening measures, promising intervention programs, the role of NICU health care providers in addressing PPD in the NICU, and suggested future research directions.